The Legacy of a Soul
by Jayfish
Summary: The daughter of everybody's favorite professor, a talented meister and her spear, and a lovesick meister and his katana find themselves on a wild joyride that will test their newfound friendship as well as their skills.
1. Beginning: The Main Characters Show Up?

**Hey! This is Jayfish here! Just wanted to let you know, this is my first _Soul Eater _fanfic. Please rate and review, and enjoy! Also, this is based on the anime, and it takes place a few years after the anime finished.**

**Me: Woot woot! New story time!**

**Spirit: MY MAKA USED TO LOVE IT WHEN I TOLD HER STORIES!**

**Me: Urr, yeah...**

**Spirit: REALLY! SHE WAS SO CUTE AS A KID!**

**Me: Please leave me alone... * runs away***

**Yeah... Despite the fact that I just ran away, the story remains. Please enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>"Hey, mom? Could you tell me another Soulya story?"<p>

Amaya Ess smiled up at her mother. Suki Ess was a master storyteller, and Amaya, at age fourteen, was proud to admit that she still enjoyed some of her mother's stories as much as she had when she was a little girl.

Suki grinned, tossing her black hair away from her face. Amaya sighed inwardly at her mother's pale complexion. They tried to hide the fact with makeup and jovial companionship, but the fact of the matter was that Suki Ess was sick, and she wasn't getting any better.

Suki didn't look too sick, yet. Her pale face was striking and stunningly beautiful. Amaya was secretly jealous of her mother's good looks; she didn't think she'd inherited any of them. Her mother's hair was a sleek, glossy black, whereas her own was silver, with black highlights scattered throughout. Suki's eyes were a warm, welcoming brown, and Amaya's grey ones were steely and uninviting. Suki seemed to be all curves, and Amaya was all angles. If it weren't for the black streaks in her hair, she wouldn't believe that she was her mother's daughter at all. That and the fact that although Suki Ess was a weapon, a set of bolas, Amaya hadn't inherited the weapon gene from her mother. Apparently, her father had been a meister.

Amaya sighed and combed the hair out of her face with her fingers. She'd probably gotten her looks from her father, a man she'd never met. Suki had never discussed the matter of who he was, exactly, with Amaya, and Amaya had stopped asking after a while. She wasn't very interested in him, anyway. He'd never sent her a letter, or any money for the family. He was the prime example of a sucky parent.

"Aren't you a bit old for stories, Amaya?" Suki teased; her customary smile lighting up her face. Amaya had always been amazed by her mother's smile. Somehow it managed to make anyone feel welcome and comfortable, even in the strangest of situations. She'd tried to make her own smile look like that and had scared most of the kids in her grade. Evidently she looked too much like a psycho when she did it, or something along those lines.

"I'm never too old for Soulya," Amaya replied. "Besides, don't you think it's time you told me the ending to the story? You said I could hear it when I got older."

Suki sighed and patted the side of the bed she was lying in. "Alright," she said. "But when the story's over, I have some news for you, okay?"

"Sure," Amaya said, getting up on the bed. "The final Soulya story. I must admit; I'm excited."

Suki sighed again. "There's a reason I didn't tell it to you, you know," she said. "It's not a happy ending."

Amaya blinked. She'd never imagined that the ending of Soulya's story could be anything but happy. Soulya was, after all, the most powerful weapon ever. She was the Ultimate Weapon, the matter-switcher. Her ability allowed her to take the form of anything in the world. And, as one of the Eight Powerful Warriors, Soulya was close enough to Death that he would go out of his way to defend her, if necessary. Who could defeat her?

"After the Battle of the Seven Golems, Soulya and Metras, her meister, as I'm sure you remember, retired back to their home to heal their wounds and rejuvenate. However, at this time the meister Asura turned against Lord Death and became the Kishin of Madness. This Madness affected Metras, who was already unstable to begin with, a fact Soulya did her best to ignore. Metras began to thirst for blood, and killed more and more frequently without inhibition. Soulya had faith in her partner and his ability to best the Madness, but Metras was pushed over the edge by the witch Arachne, who wanted nothing more than to see the end of the great Soulya. Arachne placed a spell on Metras, a spell that would strengthen the Madness whenever he was near Soulya. It wasn't long before Metras began to loathe Soulya, and to wish for her an agonizing end."

Amaya stared openmouthed at her mother, a pang in her stomach. The Kishin Asura that her mother had spoken of had returned five years ago… She was unfortunately familiar with the Madness. She herself had been quite affected by it. The Madness… She'd only been nine at the time. The Madness had brought her into a sick twisted hallucinatory world where nothing and everything was real. According to her mother, Amaya had become quite interested in taking things apart during this time. According to Suki, she'd walked in on Amaya threatening a playmate with a knife once. Then the Kishin was defeated, and the Madness had faded away into the background, although Amaya found that she still had a passion for taking things apart and discovering what made them tick. Mostly she ripped open inanimate objects, but in her darker moments she considered living material. It was Suki that kept her on the right track.

"After a particularly nasty run-in with a few hundred members of Arachnophobia, Arachne's organization of evil," Suki continued, "Metras and Soulya retreated into a small cave to heal their wounds and wait for reinforcements from the Reaper. Arachne knew that her organization would suffer an ignominious defeat if Soulya were allowed to live, and boosted the power of Metras' Madness as far as it would go. Metras turned on Soulya in a blind rage and rendered her unconscious with his soul wavelength, one of his strongest techniques. When Soulya awoke, she found herself chained to a wall of the cave, and Metras proceeded to torture her, as the Madness inside him would only be satiated by the most terrible pain for Soulya imaginable. He used his soul wavelength to keep her from changing her shape, and for hours he tormented her. She refused to scream at even the most horrible tortures, and this only spurred Metras on to greater heights. At last, Metras sensed the Reaper approaching, and in desperation he stabbed Soulya just below the heart and escaped into the wild. The Reaper entered the cave as Soulya took her final breaths, and held her as she died. Then the Reaper began to hunt Metras. It took him less than an hour to locate the traitor, and the Reaper tore him to shreds for what he'd done." Suki stopped talking.

"That's it? _That's _the ending of the Soulya story?" Amaya exclaimed, horrified. "That's the worst thing I've ever heard! Where did you _get _this story?"

Suki shrugged. "I read it in a history book," she said. "It really happened, you know. Soulya, Metras and all the others really existed."

Amaya moaned and flopped onto the floor. "That made it a lot worse. Thanks, Mom."

Suki smiled. "It happened over 8oo years ago, if that makes you feel better."

"Not really, but thanks."

"You're welcome," Suki replied. "Anyway, now is not the time to be thinking on the brave but unfortunate Soulya. I have news for you."

"News?" Amaya asked, suspicious.

Suki sighed. "Where do I begin?" She asked. "Well… You enjoy my stories, right?"

Amaya nodded eagerly. "Alright," Suki continued. "I'm going to tell you a bit of a story here. It's about me, when I was younger, and I promise you that it has a point. As you know, I used to go to the Academy. When I arrived at the Academy, I chose to partner with a girl named Kami Elm. Kami and I were very good friends, but our soul wavelengths weren't perfectly matched, and eventually that fact drove us to separate. Kami found another weapon, a scythe named Spirit Albarn that she'd fallen in love with, and I, having no other option, partnered with Spirit's old partner, a man named Franken Stein. Franken and I had wavelengths better matched than mine and Kami's, but they still weren't perfect. However, after living with Franken for a year, I found myself… falling in love with him." She sighed. "What can I say? When I discovered that I was pregnant, I left the Academy and came here, to raise you. Franken never knew why I left him, and he never knew that he had a daughter." She reached into a pocket of her nightgown and pulled out a neatly folded letter. "He works at the Academy now. I want you to go there and enroll."

Amaya blinked. "You want me… to go to the Academy? But that's miles away! I couldn't see you anymore!"

Suki smiled sadly. "I know," she said softly. "But the thing is… I can't take care of you anymore, honey. I'm not getting any better; we both know that. In a few weeks, I'm going to go live in the local hospital, and by then, I hope that you'll be safely on your way to the Academy, to live with your father."

Amaya took a few deep breaths. _I will not get angry, _she told herself firmly. _That could make Mother worse. _"What's he like, Franken Stein? Is he a nice guy?"

Suki closed her eyes. "He's insane," she said.

Amaya blinked. "You're joking?" She asked, hopefully and fell over when her mother shook her head. "Insane…" She said weakly. "Insane! Is _this _why I tried to kill my best friend when I was a kid? Am I crazy too?"

"Possibly," Suki said.

"Ever the realist," Amaya muttered. "You're sending me to live with an insane person? Is that really wise?"

"Oh, he wouldn't hurt his own daughter," Suki said confidently. "He'll love you!"

"He'll murder me," Amaya muttered, just too softly for her mother's hearing. She got to her feet and stared at her mother, the anger inside her dying down to a soft murmur. "If I go to the Academy, do you promise to get better?" Amaya's gray eyes locked onto Suki's brown ones. "Do you promise?"

Suki looked away. "I… I promise," she whispered.

"Good," Amaya said, heading for the door. "I'll get packing, then." She paused at the door and smiled faintly at her mother. "Who knows," she said. "Maybe you'll be better by the time I get to the Academy!" Smiling cheerfully, she exited the room.

Suki stared at the closed door. "I won't be," she whispered softly to herself, and settled back amongst the pillows.

* * *

><p>"Celeste, you idiot. Duck. DUCK!"<p>

"I'm ducking," Celeste Attenborough said sourly, throwing herself to the ground. A wave of heat rolled over her body, and the fireball smashed into a nearby building. Chunks of burnt brick rained down on Celeste, but she got to her feet amidst the chaos and thrust her spear out in front of her. The spear in question gave an exasperated sigh.

"Why did I choose to partner with you?" Aia Paus moaned. "You have zero regard for your own safety, or anyone else's, for that matter, and then you go and drag me into a fight with Genghis Khan! Why didn't I choose to partner with some nerd who'd never bring me out of the Academy?"

"You know why," Celeste said, staring at the monstrosity in front of her. It was huge and made of metal, hunched over like some kind of ape with a dragon-like, toothy snout. That snout released balls of flame every so often that were a bit tricky to dodge. Other than that, Genghis Khan would be easy to destroy. "You love me."

"True that," Aia said. "You annoy the hell out of me, though." The spear quivered in Celeste's hands. "Let's end this bastard."

"Fine by me," Celeste said. She started forward, sneakers squeaking on the pavement. Khan snapped at her with its metal teeth, but she jumped above its maw and landed hard on its small head. "Got you," she said, driving Aia through the metal. Aia's spear point was sharper than anything Celeste had tested her on, and Aia went through Khan's head as though it were made of butter.

"Nice work," Aia said, but the creature beneath them bucked and rolled, throwing Celeste and Aia off its back.

"It'll take more than that to kill me," it hissed.

Celeste and Aia stared. "Time for plan B," Aia said calmly. Celeste didn't move. "Uh, Celeste? Plan B?"

"About that…" Celeste said nervously.

"WHAT? YOU SAID YOU HAD A PLAN B WHEN WE LEFT THE ACADEMY!"

"I LIED, OKAY? PEOPLE DO THAT SOMETIMES!"

"AIA… CHOP!"

"OWWW!" Celeste wailed, clutching her head. "Hitting people with your shaft on the head is _not _a good way to make friends!"

"Whatever," Aia said. "Incoming!" Celeste rolled out of the way as one of Khan's giant metal hands smashed into the place where she'd previously been standing. She stared at the crater where it had hit the pavement and smirked.

"You'll have to be faster than that, Khan," she said, blowing one brown strand out of hair out of her face. Her pixie cut was good for fighting; it made it easy to see, and as a bonus it was easy to maintain. Her sea-green eyes glowed with determination. "I'm Celeste Attenborough and this is Aia Paus! You never had any hope of defeating us!"

"Really," Khan whispered, opening its mouth. Celeste squeaked and fell to the ground as a fireball blew past her, scorching the back of her black jacket.

"Get up, Celeste," Aia warned, but Celeste was already getting to her feet. She narrowed her eyes at Khan and readjusted her grip on Aia's shaft.

"Oh, you're going down, ugly," she snapped, staring at Khan. "Come on, Aia. Let's go soul resonance!"

Celeste felt a tingling in her heart, and suddenly her consciousness flooded with the awareness of Aia. The spear in her hands began to grow, the tip growing starry and much, much larger. "Storm Stab!" Celeste yelled, throwing herself at Khan. She aimed Aia at one of the divides in the creature's armor and jammed the spear into Khan's body. There was a crackle, and Khan wailed as electricity arched across its body. As soon as the electricity dissipated, there was a loud boom, and Khan's body exploded with a metal clang. Celeste ducked her head as chunks of metal blew past her, one catching her on the cheek and slicing her. She didn't flinch as blood began to ooze from the cut, instead watching as what remained of Khan crashed to the floor. One piece of metal, a round ball that was probably the heart, was still quivering. Celeste calmly walked to it and stabbed Aia through the center. With a crack, the metal sphere melted into nothing, revealing the Kishin egg inside.

"Enjoy," Celeste said, poking Aia's spear tip into the center of the egg. Slowly, Aia sucked it up through her shaft, and sighed with pleasure.

"Mmm," she said contentedly. "That was our fifty-second egg. We're well on our way to turning me into a Death Scythe, no?"

"We are indeed," Celeste said, watching as her partner transformed back into her human form. Aia's long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her huge blue eyes surveyed the scene.

"That went well," Aia said, hugging herself tightly. "Do you want to call Lord Death and tell him how we did?"

"Sure," Celeste said. She motioned for Aia to follow her and set off at a trot to the nearest store window that Khan hadn't broken. She stopped in front of one and breathed on it, writing carefully in the steamy reflection. "42-42-564… Hello, Lord Death!"

"Hello, hello, hello, Celeste!" The Reaper said, waving one giant hand amiably. "How was your mission? Did you defeat Genghis Khan?"

"It's nothing more than scrap metal," Celeste said. She snatched Aia by the hood and dragged her into Death's view. "Aia and I made it through without a scratch. I might even turn Aia into a Death Scythe soon!"

"Aia would make a _great_ Death Scythe!" Death said appreciatively, bringing a tiny smile to Aia's face. "And you, Celeste, are turning out to be an excellent meister. Congratulations, both of you!"

"Thank you, Lord Death," Aia said, bowing her head. Aia was positively reverent when it came to the Grim Reaper, whereas Celeste looked to him as a significantly powerful teacher.

"Should we come back to the Academy then?" Celeste asked.

The Death Lord nodded. "I have a surprise for you, for when you get back," he said, winking at them. "I can promise you this much, it's gonna be good!" Celeste and Aia looked at each other, shocked.

"For us?" Aia said finally. "Just us, Lord Death? Or all the meister and weapon pairs?"

The Reaper laughed delightedly. "Just you two and one other pair. Do you know Garo Pikis or Fey Chaius?" They shook their heads. "You will!" The Reaper said, waving his hand. "I'll see you soon!" The window blanked out and Lord Death vanished.

Aia and Celeste locked eyes. "This is so cool," Aia said happily.

"Not really. For all we know, the Reaper's surprise is to kick us out of the Academy!"

Aia laughed. "Us? C'mon, Celeste. We may not be the head of our class, but we're definitely the best pair. Nobody in our class has more souls than we do!"

"I suppose," Celeste said, looking at the floor, to where pieces of Khan still lay. "Let's go, Aia." She put her arm around her weapon partner, and together they headed back to the Academy, buoyed by the thought of a surprise, but anxious as hell as to what, exactly, the surprise was.

* * *

><p>"Garo! If you don't get up in two seconds I am going to crush your skull!"<p>

"I suppose you meant to scare me with that one," Garo Pikis said lazily, laying on his back and staring up at his weapon partner, amused. "You wouldn't kill me, Fey. You're in love with me."

Fey Chaius snorted and rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself," she said. "We both know I only partnered with you because you're such a good meister. You think everybody's in love with you."

"That's because everybody is," Garo said, his eyes morphing into cute hearts and Cupid wings sprouting from his back. "I am the epitome of love! Just as the Reaper symbolizes death, I symbolize the union of souls! Every girl who sees me instantly falls in love with me! It's impossible not to! I am, in fact, a- Jeez, Fey, you didn't have to hit me so hard."

"You earned it," Fey said. "Anyone who thinks they are the 'epitome of love,' deserves to get smacked once in a while. Now, for the love of God, could you please hurry? Lord Death requested our presence in the Death Room, and if we're late we're going to get Reaper Chopped!"

"Please. Your chops are almost as bad as the Reaper's. I could probably handle it."

"Probably you could," Fey said, offering Garo a hand and pulling him to his feet, "but if your brains got scrambled I'd lose the best meister ever, and that would make me angry. Trust me, you don't wanna see that."

"I do see it. Every day."

"Shut up and get going!"

Fey dragged Garo through the halls, her long pink hair waving in his face and generally annoying him. Fey's appearance was entirely too misleading; with her feminine figure, cute features, and pink hair, she looked like an adorable little kid. That is, until she turned into a katana to beat the living crap out of you. Her temper was already renowned throughout the Academy to be the worst ever, and anyone who made the mistake of treating her like a girly-girl regretted it.

Garo was the complete opposite. He was tall and masculine, with dark brown hair that flopped over his eyes. Of course, his strange tendency to assume that every girl in the world was in love with him kind of ruined the image. The only thing that saved his reputation was his incredible skill with the katana. He was the top of his class in every field, no question.

"Walk faster!" Fey screeched, pulling Garo into a jog. He complied, pausing only to wink jauntily at a couple of girls passing by. They giggled and blushed and he cocked his head. _I know the truth, _he thought. _I am irresistible. What woman wouldn't want me?_

"GARO, YOU IDIOT! QUIT WINKING AT PEOPLE AND GET YOUR ASS MOVING!"

_Oh yeah. Fey wouldn't want me. The rare exception in an otherwise perfect work._

Garo looked ahead at the exact moment Fey collided with two girls ahead of them. All four of them fell down in an ungainly pile. Garo regained his feet quickly and offered a hand to the blonde girl, pulling her up. "Are you alright?" He asked smoothly.

The girl smiled. "I'm fine," she said, brushing herself off. "Hey, Celeste! Are you going to get up?"

"In a minute," the girl on the floor, evidently named Celeste, said. "I think my brain's been rattled out of my skull."

"Hey, sorry," Fey said, offering Celeste a hand. Together they got up. "Didn't see you there. Sorry, but we've got to go. Lord Death wants to see us."

The blonde girl's eyes widened. "Us too! You must be Garo and Fey!"

"Yup," Garo said, treating the girl to a smoldering gaze with his brown eyes. "And what might your name be?"

She blushed. "Aia," she said. "And this is Celeste."

"Hey," Celeste said. "Are you guys ready to go? We shouldn't keep the Reaper waiting."

"Exactly what I was saying!" Fey said, grinning at Celeste. Celeste grinned back.

Together, the four of them hurried to the Death Room. Aia chattered excitedly to Garo about what the surprise might be, and he nodded and smiled the whole time enthusiastically, thinking about how hot she was and wondering if she thought the same about him. _Of course she thinks I'm hot! _He thought. _There isn't a woman in the world who doesn't think so!_

"Uh… Garo? Are you listening to me?"

"Wha- huh?"

"I'll take that as a no," Aia grouched, going over to walk with Celeste and Fey.

"NOOOOO!" Garo wailed, falling to his knees. "COME BACK, MY SWEET! I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND YOU!"

"Creepy much?" Aia asked, slinking away from the laughter of her fellow students.

"My life is over," Garo sobbed.

"What about 'get your ass moving' do you not understand!" Fey asked, grabbing Garo's hood and dragging him behind her.

By the time they made it to the Death Room, Garo had pretty much gotten over Aia's rejection. The Reaper waved happily at their arrival. "Welcome to the Death Room, kiddies!"

"I used to call my Maka that." Everyone stared at the Death Scythe Garo knew as Spirit, who was sitting in a corner of the Death Room sighing happily to himself. "Oh, Maka. How she's grown!"

"Ignore him," Lord Death said confidentially, herding the students away from the lovesick Death Scythe. "He just got a letter from his daughter and now every word that comes out of his mouth is about her."

"So…" Celeste asked. "What's our surprise?"

"As you know, the four of you are at the top of your respective classes in the field of soul collection," the Death Lord said. "Because of this, I've elected the four of you for an extra assignment, something to challenge you a little bit."

"A challenge?" Aia asked suspiciously. "Are you sure that we're all up to a challenge, Lord Death?"

He nodded confidently. "I don't have any doubts," he said. "Do you want to hear your assignment?" The four of them nodded eagerly. "There have been reports of suspicious activity in a village not too far from Death City. Apparently, the inhabitants of the village are disappearing, one by one. I want you to go to that village and find out what's been happening."

"That's all?" Fey said, bringing up her hand and curling it into a fist. "Hah! When whatever it is that's been kidnapping people meets up with me they'll regret it!"

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't proceed with caution," Death said. "But I want you to know that if you pass this lesson… the four of you are going to get a very special reward!"

"And if we fail?" Aia asked.

Lord Death shrugged. "No reward. But I'm positive you'll do well on this. From what your teachers have observed, the four of you will make an excellent team!"

Garo nodded confidently. "Don't worry, Lord Death. We'll find the thing that's kidnapping people and make it pay." His eyes widened. "But what if it's a pretty girl? I don't think… I mean, maybe I could render her powerless with my good looks, but I couldn't _attack _her…"

"SHUT UP, GARO!" Everyone yelled.

"Fine," he sighed, mildly surprised that his idea hadn't had a better reception. "I expect that you'll be back within a few days," Lord Death said. "If you're not, I'll assume that you got killed!" He tossed a large map at Aia, who caught it with a huff of surprise. "This should get you to the village!"

"Okay…" Celeste muttered. "Is that all?"

"Yep!" The Reaper said, saluting them. "Good luck, young meisters and weapons! Off you go now!" He shooed them off with one giant hand.

Garo, Fey, Celeste and Aia stopped at the door to the Death Room and looked at each other. "Ready?" Celeste asked.

"Hell yes!" Fey said, tossing her hair proudly. "We're going to pound whatever it is that we're up against to dust!"

Garo smiled at Celeste and Aia. "I look forward to getting to know you better," he said, giving them his sexiest look.

They deadpanned, and then slunk over to Fey. "What is with him? He's really creepy…"

Garo fell over, his customary rejection nosebleed already starting. _Why, oh why, am I stuck with the three girls in the Academy that don't like me at all? _He thought. _Since when have girls gotten so hard to get?_

"Since you started voicing your creepy thoughts out loud," Fey said dryly. "Now come on, Mr. Lovesick. We don't have forever, y'know." Garo sighed, took Fey's offered hand, and followed her to a team of three girls that didn't fall for his charms _at all. _

Typical.

* * *

><p><strong>I finished the first chapter! Amazifying!<strong>

**Ox: 'Amazifying' isn't a word, smart one.**

**Me: Why are you even here?**

**Now that he's gone... If you liked it, review! If not, review anyway! Please no flames though... :D**


	2. Come Together: Amaya is Insane?

**Chapter Two!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater. If I did, Stein would be younger so I could crush on him, and Kid would mysteriously fall in love with a mysterious young maiden named Jayfish. Mysterious...**

* * *

><p>Amaya stared at the map clutched in her hands and frowned. According to the map, she was a day or so away from the Academy, and she'd just made it to a small village that would serve as her resting spot for the night. The village was in front of her, that much was clear, but there was nobody there. Perhaps the village had been abandoned for some perfectly explainable reason, but as Amaya traversed the empty streets she became increasingly certain that this was not the case.<p>

For one thing, the village looked as though it had been inhabited recently. Not a single building was in a state of disrepair; in fact the cottages looked better than Amaya's house. Thinking about her house brought Amaya to a halt. She bit her lip and stole a glance behind her, where clouds of mist were just beginning to swirl in. Somewhere, one day on a train and one day of walking away, her mother was probably still in bed, waiting to be admitted to the hospital. Before Amaya had left, Suki had begun to bleed from her nose again, and after she'd stopped the bleeding Amaya had taken a lot of coaxing before she finally left her mother behind.

She patted the letter in her jeans pocket absentmindedly. Inside it was a letter from her mother to Franken Stein. She hadn't read it, but most likely it begged the meister to take in his daughter. Amaya rolled her eyes. Even if it wasn't exactly Stein's fault that he'd never met her, she found that she was in no mood to meet her father. If he'd cared about Suki so much, why didn't he look for Suki after she'd left? Did he even try to stop her? It bothered Amaya to no end, especially the fact that, according to Suki, he was insane. What the hell did that even mean? Suki hadn't given any details, and Amaya wasn't anxious to find out for herself.

She glanced upwards, where the moon smiled eerily. The sky was dark, and it was time she found somewhere to sleep. She hugged herself and glanced around nervously. The abandoned village suddenly felt chilling and a tremor ran down her spine. Slowly, she walked up to one of the houses and bit her lip. The open door yawned into blackness. Carefully, she slipped through the threshold and into the house.

It was black inside, only a faint trickle of light slipping through the open door. Amaya groped blindly in the dark, feeling around for a bed or mat or _something_ to sleep on. As she shuffled forward, she stepped hard on something that slipped under her. Before she could stop herself, she lost her balance and started to fall.

She slammed onto the wood floor, cracking her head hard enough to see stars. "Oww," she moaned, drawing her legs under herself and sitting up on her knees. She rubbed her hair thoughtfully and froze as a creak echoed throughout the cottage. "Um, hello?" She asked. Silence. "Is anybody there?"

"You…" A raspy voice whispered, right in her ear. "Is it you?"

Amaya froze; eyes huge. "Wha-wha-what do you mean…?"

The voice sighed, and she felt something slide across the back of her neck before releasing her. "It _is _you," it whispered. "The one who's been taking us villagers." The air whistled, and hot pain slashed across her arm. "I'll kill you!"

Amaya shrieked and stumbled to her feet, clutching her arm. She felt blood matting in her black jacket, and grunted as something hit her in the stomach, hard. She fell to the ground and yelped as someone fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground. A face swam into focus, an old man with filthy white hair clutching a long knife. It didn't appear as if the knife were a demon weapon, because it wasn't talking, but it could still slice her.

"You've been killing the villagers, you bitch," the old man snarled, raising the weapon. "But it ends here. I'm going to destroy you!"

"What are you talking about?" Amaya said desperately. "I've never been here before in my life!"

"Enough of your lies," the old man rasped, bringing the knife down. Amaya looked into his huge eyes and knew he was insane. She rolled to the left, but she knew it wasn't enough. The knife was going to hit her right in the windpipe, and there was nothing she could do to stop it…

The old man choked suddenly, staring at his arm, eyes bulging. It was arrested in the air, a silvery _thing_ coiled around it. It looked almost as though it were a thick rat tail, albeit a transparent one. The tail stretched off into the darkness of the house, but as both Amaya and the old man watched, the source of the tail stepped forward.

A cloaked figure with one hand thrust out, the trunk of the tail disappearing into the palm if its hand, stepped out of the shadows. The figure's shoulders began to shake, and a decidedly feminine laugh echoed through the cottage. "What's this?" The woman asked. "The daughter of the great Professor Stein, beaten by an old man? Oh, this is _funny_!"

The figure yanked her hand back, and the old man was pulled off Amaya by the tail. It released the old man suddenly, rearing back. "This is my Whip Tail," the woman said to the old man, who was slowly backing away. "Do you like it?"

He mumbled something unintelligible and suddenly bolted for the door. The cloaked figure slashed at the old man with her hand, and the Whip Tail stretched across the room and smashed into his side. Amaya's eyes opened in horror and she crawled back when she realized that the whip had buried itself in the man's side. The woman reeled the man in and waved her hand, the Whip melting into thin air. She grasped the old man by the shoulders and turned to look at Amaya.

"Do you mind if I start eating?" She asked. "I know that you must be hungry, but I don't think you really want to share with me." Amaya shook her head numbly.

"What did you- what- why would you do that?" She yelped, getting to her feet shakily. "Although I suppose I should thank you for saving me," she added; an afterthought.

The strange woman dropped the old man and raised her hand. "Whip Tail," she said, and the Whip was curling in the air towards Amaya. Before she could move, it was coiled around her throat. The woman dragged Amaya towards her, lifting the girl off the ground. "You should be thanking me," she said, brushing a few stray hairs out of Amaya's face. "You and I are going to be friends, Amaya Ess." She smiled, and Amaya caught a glimpse of two red eyes glowing with a maniac light behind the hood.

"How do you know me?" Amaya choked, eyes overflowing with tears induced by the Tail tightening around her throat. The woman laughed musically.

"I've been watching you for a long time, Amaya," she said. "You see, if you're anything like your father I have to have you!" She hefted Amaya higher with the Whip, and Amaya gasped for breath and scrabbled at the Whip. It was solid and glassy under her fingers, and entirely unbreakable.

"Good luck with that," the woman said. "My Whip Tail is difficult to break. It takes a Witch to screw with my magic, something you are clearly not." She froze suddenly, and the Whip melted away. "Two meisters and two weapons," she whispered, staring at the door. "I can feel their souls." She looked down at Amaya, who was now on the floor and gasping for breath.

"I didn't think the DWMA would be coming so soon, but now that they're here I can use this to my advantage." She pulled Amaya up by the hood and shoved the old man's knife into her hand. "Go outside," she said. "Also…" She touched Amaya under the chin. "Rattus Rattus, Denti Lungcaudis," she murmured, and Amaya yelped as a shock traveled up through her spine. "There we go," the woman said. "That should boost the dormant Madness inside you from your father, if only for a couple of minutes. No matter. It'll be enough to frame you for the naughty things _I've _been doing." She gave Amaya a jaunty wave. "Goodbye, Amaya Ess. I'll be seeing you soon again. Also, just to warn you, I've woken up your Madness for good this time. Without the calming presence of your mother to keep it quiet, it should return every time you go to battle or get involved in some sort of action. Bye!" She shrank suddenly into and disappeared. Amaya looked down, startled, and blinked as something large and furry brushed past her ankle. It looked almost like… a rat.

Then the spark reached her brain and everything changed.

Amaya stared down at the body of the old man, and an overwhelming desire to slice him open took over her. She smiled down at the knife in her hand. Such a pretty blade. But it would look much prettier under the moon. Then she'd be able to see what she was doing better too.

"I'm going to cut you open," she told the old man happily. "And then I'm going to put you back together so that you work better. Won't that be fun?" He didn't answer. "How rude," she said, picking him up by his armpits and dragging him towards the door. "I'll fix that, you know," she told him. "So that you always answer back when spoken to. Are you okay with that? I guess so, because you're not answering me."

She managed to tug the old man's body out into the street. The moon illuminated his body much better. "Thanks!" She shouted at the sky, baring the blade. She squatted down at the old man's side and pressed it against his stomach, deep in thought, humming to herself. "Where should I begin? I know- I'll cut out your tongue! And then I'll put something better in there instead, like… oh, this is hard. I can't decide!"

"Let me decide for you." Amaya looked up and blinked at the sight of the girl in front of her. She had short brown hair and was holding a spear tightly. "How about I kill you, and then you don't have to do anything at all?"

Amaya considered it for a moment. "No," she said. "I don't think that would be fun for me." The girl raised her spear and smiled coldly.

"Your loss," she said. "I'm Celeste Attenborough. What's your name?"

Amaya closed her eyes and concentrated. A smile spread across her face. "I don't remember," she said, and then giggled. "I know what I'll do! I'll replace his tongue with yours!"

The girl Celeste tensed. "Come try," she said.

"I will!" Amaya said gleefully, and lunged.

* * *

><p>Celeste threw herself backwards to avoid the girl's knife. She could tell almost instantly that the girl had never been trained. She was fighting with a strange desperation, but her movements were slurred, as if she didn't really know what she was doing. It didn't look like she was being controlled by anyone, but Celeste didn't dismiss the idea.<p>

"Is she Kishin?" Aia yelled. Celeste thrust Aia's shaft in between her and the girl and closed her eyes.

"Let's find out," she said, snapping them open. Celeste was one of the few meisters with the ability to see souls, and she was going to use her ability now. The girl's soul was actually quite large, as big as Celeste's, and it was bright blue. "She's not Kishin," Celeste told Aia, quite shaken. "Her soul is actually nowhere near to being Kishin. But she was just trying to kill that old man! Isn't she the one that's been murdering the villagers?"

"Noo," the girl said, throwing herself forward and slashing at Celeste with the knife in her hand. "I've never killed anybody. That was someone else."

"Someone else?" Celeste asked, twirling around and kicking. The crazy girl didn't even bother to dodge; she took the blow and stumbled back a few paces, the knife held loosely in her fingers.

"Mm-hm," the crazy girl said, cocking her head and smiling. "It wasn't me; I didn't do it." She frowned. "Did I? I don't know. I can't remember anything!" Her eyes narrowed slowly. "But if I kill you it won't matter." She shot forward suddenly, knife aimed at Celeste's heart.

Calmly, Celeste raised Aia. The knife hit the spear shaft dead center and drove the crazy girl to a halt. "You won't be killing anyone today," Celeste said. "Now stop fighting me, and I'll take you back to the Academy." The girl shook her head, silvery-black hair waving around her shoulders.

"I have to kill you," she panted. "I have to." She raised the knife, trembling a little, and came forward again, slashing in a frenzy. Celeste was actually forced on the defensive, using Aia to block blow after blow. Aia's face appeared in the spear tip, bleeding from her forehead.

"Aia!" Celeste yelled. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Aia said. "Now call Garo and Fey! We need them."

"Garo, Fey!" Celeste called. "Surprise attack!"

For a moment, there was silence. Then Garo's silhouette appeared on a nearby rooftop. He was posing dramatically, one hand on his hip and the other raising Fey in katana form. "Hello, Celeste, Aia, and most likely crazy murderess girl!" He yelled down.

"… This is your idea of a surprise attack?" Aia muttered, miffed.

"I don't need to surprise anyone!" Garo yelled. "As you can see, your attacker is female. Because of this, she should be easy to restrain!" He raised Fey high in the air. "Try to resist _this_, girl!" He cried.

"That's right, Garo!" Celeste yelled. "Get her with Fey…" She paused and gaped as she realized that Garo had put Fey on the ground. Dramatically, he grabbed his shirt on either side and tore it off in one fluid motion.

"Ha ha!" He yelled, posing. "My manly physique is enough to make any girl faint!"

Everyone stared. "Garo…" Fey said slowly.

"Mm-hm?" Garo asked, still posing.

"I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to leave your Hello Kitty underwear to your little sister, because… I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Her torso popped out of the blade of her katana and she began pummeling Garo with everything she had in her.

Celeste, Aia and the girl stared up at the spectacle. "Well, this is embarrassing…" Aia muttered.

"Agreed," Celeste said.

"And he thinks _I'm _crazy," the girl said, staring up at them openmouthed. A smile grew on her face. "I am crazy, though. I think I'm going to use his tongue on the old man instead, Celeste. He's loud."She lunged forward and slammed her feet against the wall, running upwards before gravity could drag her back down. She landed next to Garo and stabbed at him with the knife.

Fey and Garo turned in sync to see the danger bearing down on them. Fey melted back into the katana and Garo yelped and dove to the side, barely avoiding the blow. "You didn't faint?" He asked sadly. "WHY IS NO ONE FAINTING AT THE SIGHT OF MY SEXY ABS? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"And you probably never will," Fey said dryly. "Now hurry up and beat this girl before she 'mars your perfection' or whatever."

"You're right," Garo said, raising the katana. "No one threatens to rip out my tongue!" As the girl came at him a second time, he twisted gracefully and grabbed her by the shoulders. Before she could move, he'd kneed her in the throat. She choked and stumbled backwards, tripping off the edge of the roof.

"Crap," Celeste said. She aimed Aia, and hurled the spear as hard as she could. "Catch her, Aia!"

"On it," Aia said. As she flew through the air, and changed into human form, arms wide and waiting. She and the crazy girl collided and smashed into the side of a wall. They both fell to the ground in a cloud of dust, and staggered to their feet in sync. Aia stared at the girl and jumped back as the girl came at her with her knife.

"Oh no, you don't!" Aia yelled. She stuck her tongue out at the girl, and her tongue hardened and became a spear tip. "Ah ced thite wif my tung twoo, bish!"

Everyone stared. "What?"

"Nevuvind," Aia muttered. She ran forward, her spear-tip tongue stretched out of her mouth as far as it could go. As the crazy girl raised her knife, Aia slashed her tongue across the girl's hand, and clamped her teeth around the knife, yanking it from the girl's grasp. The girl hissed in pain and stared dumbfounded at the blood welling from the gash in her hand.

"Ouch," she said calmly, stretching, flexing her hand. The strange light in her eyes seemed to be fading. Slowly, she touched one of the beads of blood running down her wrist and gasped suddenly. "Holy crap!"

Celeste blinked. Her voice sounded a lot more normal, all of a sudden. The girl looked up and frowned at the sight of Aia, tongue raised and at the ready. "Who are you?"

Aia's eyes narrowed and her tongue receded, turning back into muscle. "Don't play innocent," she said. "We know what you've been doing."

The girl frowned. "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything!"

Garo landed beside her with a thump. In one fluid moment, he had Fey at the girl's throat. "You've done a lot, actually," he said. "You've been murdering the people in this village, and dissecting them. Do you know how creepy that is?" He looked at Celeste and Aia. "And we've had quite enough of the whole dissection thing, haven't we? If Professor Stein gives any of us one more thing to dissect I'm going to start cutting class."

"Professor Stein!" The girl said suddenly. "He's my father!"

"What?" Aia said. "Now we know you're lying. The Professor only started dating Miss Marie a few months ago. He wouldn't have had a daughter by then!"

The color drained from the girl's face. "What? He's dating?"

"Yep," said Celeste.

"That no-good, rotten, cheating son of a bitch!" The girl railed, actually shaking her fist. "He found another woman? What the hell!"

"That's it," Celeste said, speaking over the girl, who was still raging. "We should take her back to Lord Death. This whole situation is way too weird."

"On it," Garo said. He put a hand on the top of the girl's head. "Sorry about this," he said, closing his eyes. The girl sighed suddenly and slumped over, fast asleep. Celeste nodded approvingly. Garo was a master at a type of soul-wavelength manipulation that allowed him to control the consciousness of his opponent. He could knock them out, or wake them up, whenever he desired. It was a good way to end a fight if it was clear he was going to lose, and also a good way to transport a crazy girl back to the Academy.

"Alright, let's go," Aia said, looking around herself nervously. "This place gives me the creeps." Garo hefted the girl up on his shoulder, and the five of them headed back towards the Academy, where hopefully they'd get there special reward.

None of them noticed the sleek brown rat sitting in the road, watching them with beady red eyes. It remained perfectly still until they disappeared into the mist, and then it gave a satisfied squeak and disappeared into the gloom.

* * *

><p>"… And so, in conclusion, we brought the girl back here to the Death Room, to be judged by you, Lord Death," Aia said.<p>

Garo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Aia's report of their mission had taken an hour to complete. She'd given Lord Death the blow-by-blow of pretty much everything that had happened during their trip, including bathroom breaks and every single twitch of the girl during her slumber. The Reaper had been patient, but he'd been nodding and smiling a lot, and Garo had a feeling that his mind hadn't exactly been filled with Aia and her report.

The Reaper started suddenly, probably noticing the silence, and smiled down at Aia. "Thank you, Aia. What a lovely report!"

Aia blushed and moved to stand by Celeste. "It was nothing, Lord Death."

The Reaper smiled, but then his mask grew grim. "Alright, now," he said. "We have a bit of a problem here. You say that this girl claims she's related to our own Professor Stein, and that she didn't have anything to do with the killings in the village?"

"Yeah," said Celeste.

"Well then," Lord Death said, rubbing his hands together. "None of us know the truth but her. Why don't you wake her up, Garo, and we'll all have a little chat?"

"Sure," Garo said, walking forward and kneeling by the sleeping girl's side. He placed a hand on her head and closed his eyes, forcing her soul wavelength into consciousness.

"Auugh!" She gasped, her eyes snapping open. She sat up and turned to look at Garo in one fluid motion. "You knocked me out!" She exclaimed, eyes narrowing.

Garo shrugged. "I don't suppose you'd accept an apology?"

She frowned. "That depends. Where am I?"

"The Death Weapon Academy for Meisters and Weapons," the Grim Reaper exclaimed, putting his hand on Amaya's shoulder. "Or the DWMA, for short."

The girl went rigid. "Lord Death?" She murmured.

"That's right!" The Reaper said, coming around to where the girl could see him. "And who might you be?"

"Amaya Ess," the girl said, sticking out her hand for the Grim Reaper to shake. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Hm," Lord Death said, frowning a little as he shook her hand. "You seem awfully polite for a murderess."

"I'm not!" Amaya said. "A murderess, that is," she added. She frowned too, looking as though she were concentrating. "I'm not quite sure why everybody thinks that."

"Oh, come on!" Fey exploded. "She's lying, Lord Death. We literally saw her trying to dissect an old man!"

"I never did that!" Amaya said. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't try to get out of punishment," Fey snarled. "We're going to make sure you get everything you deserve."

"Ladies, ladies!" Lord Death said, holding up his hands. "Let's calm down, shall we?" Both girls quieted, still glowering at each other.

_Oh, come on, _Garo thought. _I've tried that move a million times, and it never works for _me_. The Reaper isn't even sexy like I am!_

Amaya was now glaring at everyone suspiciously; seemingly convinced that they were going to start yelling at her. Her gaze turned to Garo, who was still sitting next to her. "Could somebody please explain what's going on?" She asked, looking at him imploringly.

"Well," Garo said, putting his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

She gave him a glare colder than ice. "I don't remember giving you permission to do that," she said, looking at his hand pointedly.

"WHY?" He wailed, removing his hand and falling to his knees. "WHY AM I CONSTANTLY REJECTED? IT MAKES NO SENSE!"

"I know exactly what you mean," Spirit said. Garo hadn't noticed him, but he had been standing beside Lord Death's mirror nonchalantly. "I used to be rejected constantly. But now my Maka has accepted me as her Papa!" He sighed and stared off into the distance.

"Right…" Garo said, slinking over to hide behind Fey.

"Alright," the Reaper said. "Why don't you tell all of us exactly what you were doing in that village, and what happened?"

"Well," Amaya said, "My mother sent me here, to enroll in the DWMA. I came to that village to spend the night, but there was nobody there. I went into a house to sleep, and an old man attacked me. He seemed to think that I was the one killing the villagers, and he attacked me. He was just about to finish me off when this lady showed up and used some sort of weird magic to murder him; I'm pretty sure she was a witch. I never saw her face, but right before she left, she said something about… boosting my Madness? Then she said something really weird that I'm pretty sure was a witch mantra, and vanished. And after that, well, I don't remember anything until that girl slashed my hand with her tongue." She pointed at Aia.

Amaya pulled a thoroughly crumpled letter out of her back pocket and presented it to the Reaper. "This is from my mother to Franken Stein," she said. "He's my father, according to my mom." Her face grew troubled. "But, according to them, he's dating. Which would mean he never really cared much about my mother, wouldn't it?"

The Reaper shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sure he cared about your mother, Amaya. That is, if your story is true." He frowned. "This is an odd predicament. You say you think a witch is involved in all of this?" Amaya nodded. "Hmm," the Reaper said. Then he smiled. "I think I've got it," he said. "It's a simple matter to see if your story is true. I'll send someone to meet with your mother. In the meantime, seeing as Garo, Fey, Aia and Celeste seemed to think that you're dangerously insane… you can spend the next few days in a cell!"

The color drained from Amaya's face. "What?"

"Sorry," the Reaper said, shrugging nonchalantly. "The cells are well-furnished. You won't be _that _uncomfortable. Spirit!" The Death Scythe wandered over. "Take this young lady to one of the cells, why don't you?"

"Sure," Spirit said. "Right this way." Amaya shot Lord Death a betrayed look.

"Thanks for being so understanding," she growled. "I should have known that you'd be like this. Look how Soulya ended up!" She turned on her heel and marched away, leaving the Death Room with Spirit.

Lord Death stared after their receding forms, looking shocked. "Lord Death?" Celeste asked. "What's the matter? Who's Soulya?"

The Reaper shook his head. "Soulya… was a long time ago. I didn't think anyone remembered her still." He looked up, his mask seemingly falsely cheerful to Garo.

"Well now!" He said. "As you know, I promised you a reward if you completed this mission. We don't know for sure if you actually completed the task yet, but I still think a reward is in order." He turned to his mirror and waved his hand. The reflections in the glass rippled and distorted; the figures inside changing completely. By the time Garo could make out the pictures in the glass again, three meisters were standing in the reflection. There was a girl with brown-ish hair in pigtails, a boy with blue spiky hair and a cocky expression, and another boy with white lines in his hair and a lanky frame. All three smiled.

"Hello, Lord Death!" The girl said, waving one gloved hand. The other was wrapped around the shaft of a tall scythe. "Are these the pairs you were telling us about?"

"They are indeed, Maka," Lord Death said. He motioned for Garo and Fey to come forward. "Garo; Fey, meet Maka and Soul. They're your reward."

"Thanks?" Fey asked.

"Let me explain," the girl, Maka, said. "As two-star meisters, Lord Death thinks that it would be a good idea for us to take you under our wings for a bit; to teach you the ropes of being a good meister and weapon pair. This is Soul, by the way."

"Hey," the scythe said.

"AND WE'RE HERE TO TEACH CELESTE AND AIA HOW TO BE GOOD MEISTERS AND WEAPONS!" The blue-haired boy roared. "I'M BLACK STAR, AND THIS IS TSUBAKI!" He waved a sword in the air.

"Hi," Tsubaki the sword said.

"Hi…" Aia said, looking nervously at Black Star. He was strutting around the inside of the mirror, looking like nothing more than a peacock, in Garo's opinion. _Who does this guy think he is? _He thought. _He should know who the _real _super-cool guy is here. Me. Obviously._

"Black Star and Tsubaki will be showing you two how they do things," Lord Death told Celeste and Aia. The two nodded nervously.

"What about me, father?" The tall boy said. Garo noticed that he was holding two twin guns that looked awfully dangerous.

"I was going to ask you to stick around the Academy and maybe tutor anyone who needs it, but I changed my mind. A girl came in today; her name is Amaya Ess and if she turns out not to be evil she'll need a hand. Are you three up to the job?"

"Of course, Lord Death!" One of the guns said.

"Oooh, that girl has pink hair!" The other gun said. "Just like Chrona!" Fey rubbed her hair uncomfortably.

"Sounds good, father," the tall boy said. He froze suddenly. "Wait… is she… Is she…?"

"She looks pretty symmetrical to me, Kid," the Reaper said, and the boy relaxed.

"Thank God… I was worried…" he muttered. "Is that all, father?"

"That's all!" The Reaper said. "You're all in the underground passages of the Academy, right?" All three of the meisters nodded. "Come up and meet your new partners when you're ready. Kid, if you look now you might just see your new partner getting escorted to a cell by Spirit!"

"A cell? Is she a criminal of some sort?"

"We're trying to determine that. Black Star and Tsubaki, I'd appreciate it if you took Celeste and Aia and went to find Amaya's mother. According to Amaya, she's Professor Stein's daughter, and if we can find her mother and ask her if this is true we can clear her of the blame for some… unfortunate incidents in a village not far from here. Aia, you can explain on the way."

All three in the mirror stared. "Professor Stein's daughter?"

"It's a long story," the Reaper said. "You can ask her about it through her cell door. There's only one thing: I don't want any of you telling Stein about this. If she turns out to be lying… we don't know how this could affect him."

"Wow," Maka said. "Professor Stein's daughter. I wonder if she can fight with a chair too."

Fey snorted. "She can't fight at all. It's pathetic."

"She wasn't terrible," Celeste said. "She's pretty good with a knife."

Fey frowned. "I still don't trust her," she admitted. "But whatever- if she turns out to be a good guy I can always teach her how to really fight."

"Please," Black Star said. "If anyone's going to teach her how to fight, it'll be me. With a big star like me helping her out, how can she be bad?"

"Aren't _I _supposed to be helping her?" Kid asked, shooting Black Star a look.

"I think maybe a normal person should meet with her first!" Maka said, shooting the both of them looks.

"I think I'm going to let you three work that out by yourselves!" Death said, waving. "Bye!" The mirror flickered back into Lord Death's reflection.

"Alright, you four," Lord Death said, turning back. "Did you like your surprise?"

"Oh yes!" Aia said. "It's great!"

"Really surprising," Garo said neutrally.

"I'm glad you think so," the Reaper said. "Now, I want all four of you to go back to classes. Hopefully, your new partners will come find you."

"Yes sir!" Fey said. All four of them turned and exited the Death Room.

The Reaper watched them go. "Soulya," he muttered to himself. "I haven't heard that name in 800 years.

"Looks like things are about to get very interesting indeed."

* * *

><p><strong>Fin<strong>

**Hope Chapter Two was good!**

**R&R pleez!**


	3. Prisoner: Amaya Gets Visitors?

**Chapter Three fast approaches, and...**

**Garo: Oooh, look at me everybody, I'm so hot! **

**Me: Not really...**

**Garo: Oh, no. You're not rejecting me too. *cries***

**Me: Now I feel bad... Enjoy the story while I go comfort my character.**

* * *

><p>Spirit Albarn leaned against the wall outside Amaya Ess' cell and listened intently. Apparently, she'd stopped demanding release, because he couldn't hear anything issuing from the cell door, but he stayed a few minutes more to make sure. Then he set off, heading for the upper levels of the Academy. What he really wanted to do was hunt down Maka, but he had a feeling that she'd only wave him off anyway. She may have finally accepted him, but she still hated to be seen with him in public, at any time. Apparently, he was "embarrassing."<p>

Spirit froze in the middle of the hallway and raised a fist in the air. "Don't worry, Maka!" He yelled. "Your Papa is much too cool to embarrass you! I'm a Death Scythe, a super-powerful, dangerously good-looking, awesome, wonderful- ACK." He tripped over a stone and toppled over, crashing into the ground in a cloud of dust.

In approximately two seconds, he was back on his feet. "In short, I am a Papa to be proud of." The egotistical light in his eyes died, and he glanced back at Amaya's cell door. It was cold, uninviting, and probably thoroughly lonely in there. "Poor kid," he said seriously. "_Her_ dad doesn't even know she exists. No, scratch that. Poor kid, her dad is _Stein_."

He clenched his fist tightly. "I don't care what the Reaper says," he said. "She needs to at least see her father, even if she can't know who he is, and he can't know who _she _is." He smiled. "Now I've got a plan," he said, and hurried off to a set of stairs, heading to where Professor Stein would be teaching the day's lesson.

* * *

><p>"Alright, class," Franken Stein said, wielding his scalpel. "If we don't have any volunteers, I'm going to have to choose somebody."<p>

Everyone in the classroom winced and tried to make themselves smaller. Stein scanned the room quickly for any last-minute hands, and then sighed. "Alright," he said. "Fey, get down here."

Fey, from where she was sitting in the room, blanched. "M-m-me?" She whimpered, eyeing the scalpel in his hand nervously.

"You," Stein said blandly. "Seeing as nobody else volunteered."

Fey gave her meister Garo a nervous look, but Stein could see her taking a deep breath. She got to her feet and hopped down the steps until she was directly in front of the professor. He smiled, and she looked slightly more terrified. _Note to self, _Stein thought. _Don't smile at your students. Apparently, it scares them._

"Alright," Stein said, getting to his feet. He offered Fey his chair. "Sit down."

Fey eyed the chair. "Do I have to?"

"If you want to pass this class? Yes." Fey groaned and sat in the chair primly, folding her hands in her lap neatly and looking like she wanted to bolt. Stein flicked the scalpel out expertly and scanned his students again. "Alright," he said. "Today, we're going to see how easily a weapon can dissect a gopher." Everyone, especially Fey, sighed in relief. "While the weapon herself is being dissected."

"WHAA?" Fey squealed; jerking as far away from the scalpel as she could while remaining seated in the chair.

Stein laughed. "I'm only joking," he said, and Fey slumped in relief. "About the gopher, that is. You'll actually be dissecting a tiger." Fey blinked, and fell out of her chair. Stein knelt next to her to check her pulse. "She fainted," he said, straightening up. "How odd. Well, I suppose now could be the golden opportunity to monitor how the inside of a weapon works when they're unconscious."

"I hate to interrupt, Stein. Actually, that's a lie. I'm really glad I just interrupted you."

"What do you want, Spirit?" Stein asked, without looking away from Fey's prone form. Stein could hear the Death Scythe shuffling his feet.

"A girl just showed up at the Academy. She says her name is Amaya, and I wanted you to check up on her, to see if she wasn't injured on her way here."

"Nygus is the school nurse, not me. Besides, I have class here, or hadn't you noticed?"

Spirit rolled his eyes. "I'll take your class," he said. "They'll probably enjoy class a lot more with a cool Death Scythe like me teaching!" He gave the class a thumbs-up which no one returned.

"What's that?" Stein asked. "Do I hear groaning?"

"Maybe," Spirit answered evasively. "Anyway, it's really essential that you go. You see, this girl Amaya is reportedly insane. Apparently she was quite interested in dissecting things. You're kind of the expert here, no offense."

"None taken," said Stein, getting to his feet. "Garo!" He yelled. "Come down here and get your weapon to the nurse. We're going to have to postpone today's lesson for another time." The class looked like they were doing their best not to cheer.

"She's down in one of the lower level cells," Spirit said, handing him a key. "Oh, and one other thing- whatever you do, don't tell her your real name. She told Lord Death earlier that you and her mother hated each other in school, and now she loathes you. She gets violent at the mention of your name."

"I'll keep that in mind," Stein said. He headed for the door, absentmindedly twisting the cog in his head. At the last second, though, he stopped. "You said her mother hates me?" He asked Spirit. "What's her last name?"

"Ess," Spirit said, and Stein stopped dead for a moment.

"_Ess_," he muttered, and took off in the direction of the cells.

* * *

><p>Amaya scowled at the cell door and gave it an experimental kick. That proved to be a bad idea, because it was made of steel and her toes immediately hurt like hell upon connection with the door. Amaya hopped painfully away from said door and flopped onto her cot, spreading out on the scratchy sheets and sighing. The cell was impervious to anything Amaya did to it, and in the fifteen minutes she'd been there, she'd managed to do quite a bit. But none of it had led to anything that could get her free. Besides, trying to escape would probably offend the Reaper, which seemed like a bad idea. Of course, reminding him of how he'd botched the whole Soulya situation had probably offended him too, but Amaya had been too mad to think about her words.<p>

"This sucks," Amaya groaned, staring in quiet desperation at the bars on her window. She could see the fat golden sun outside, separated into thin slices by the metal cylinders keeping her from the outside world. She would have enjoyed being outside on such a day, but here she was, stuck in a dingy old cell at the very bottom of the DWMA. "They better not keep me in here for much longer," Amaya complained at the door. "Hey! Spirit, are you out there?" There was no response. "He just left me here, huh?" Amaya said, miffed. "Way to make me feel welcome."

Her stomach growled, and she stared at it. "Shut up," she snapped. "'I don't see you contributing to the situation." It growled again, louder, and she clutched it as a sharp pain assailed her. "Ouch," she complained. "If these DWMA people forget to bring me food, I'm going to be in a terrible mood when they let me out. If I'm still alive, of course."

Amaya went rigid suddenly and turned her head to the door. There were three knocks, and then it swung open, revealing a lanky man in a lab coat. He had silver hair that flopped over his eyes and reminded her of her own, and glasses. Strangely enough, he had a large metal cog in his head, which he turned under her stare. She winced and the squeals the metal produced as it turned under his hand and narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked suspiciously.

The man waited a beat. "Sanken Frien," he said quickly.

"What do you want?" Amaya asked.

"I'm here to check up on your mental state," Frien said dryly. Amaya scooted away from him instinctively.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked. Frien took a step into the cell, and smiled suddenly.

"I'm going to check, to see whether you're crazy like me," he said, cocking his head and pinning her with his gaze.

Amaya refused to feel daunted. "Maybe I am," she said, grinning as well and cocking her head to the same angle. For a moment, they stared at each other, their gazes boring into the other's eyes. Instinctively Amaya's eyes flitted away, and she bit her lip, feeling like she'd lost something. _Like what, the crazy contest? You should be glad you lost that one._

Frien stopped smiling at her and moved forward. "Alright," he said. "Move over." Amaya moved to the very edge of the bed, frowning at him.

"Whatever you're going to do to me better not hurt," she warned. Frien rolled his eyes.

"Say 'aah,'" he told her, and she opened her mouth.

"Aah," she said, sticking out her tongue as far as it would go to be annoying. To his credit, Frien didn't seem put out at all. He opened the briefcase she hadn't noticed he'd been holding and looked at her throat with a penlight.

"All clear," he said, reaching out and pressing his thumb against her nose. He shined the light up her nostrils and took a look. "Fine there too," he said, leaning in and gently opening one of her eyes. He checked one, then the other, and then both of her ears with his penlight before finally placing it back in the briefcase.

"Done yet, Dr. Frien?" Amaya muttered. "What does this have to do with anything, anyway?"

"I'm making sure you didn't pick up any foreign diseases on the way to our Academy," the man said, reaching into his briefcase and pulling out a syringe. Amaya paled.

"Oh no," she said. "You are _not _going to stick that needle into me. Don't even think about it."

"I'd like to see you stop me," Frien said, lunging forward and grabbing at her wrist. Amaya danced away, leaping up from her bed and stopping in the middle of the room. Frien looked at her, bemused. "It's only a needle," he said dryly. "Don't tell me a big girl like you is afraid of a little needle like this."

Amaya snorted. "The shame tactic won't work on me, Doctor," she said. "If you want to stab me with that needle you're going to have to work a bit harder." Frien seemed amused.

"You don't honestly think you can make things difficult for me, do you?" He asked. "I was the most talented meister to ever graduate from the DWMA. You've never been trained." He stood up, baring the needle again. He stepped forward, boots clacking on the stone floor. "Now come here and sit back down and I promise you that this won't hurt too much." He smiled again, and Amaya gulped. _This guy is too creepy, _she thought. _How many psychos are there at the Academy? Clearly my father isn't the only one._

She backed away from the needle carefully. "I don't think so," she said, and Frien sighed.

"Suit yourself," he said, and lunged forward. _Crap, he's fast, _Amaya thought, dodging to one side. She'd hoped Frien would smack the needle into the wall, rendering it useless, but he turned his own body and hit the wall with his shoulder instead, saving the needle from cracking.

"You'll have to be faster than that," he said, coming forward again. Amaya bared her teeth in a suddenly sadistic grin.

"Why don't you put away the needle, _Doctor_," she said. "Take out a knife instead. You know you want to." She stopped abruptly. _What was that? _She thought, chills running down her spine.

Frien stopped too, his eyes glowing from behind the glasses. "You know I do," he said, dropping the needle into a pocket on his lab coat and pulling out a scalpel. At the sight of the scalpel, Amaya's pulse quickened.

"Give me that," she said, running her tongue across her teeth. _What the hell am I doing? _She thought. _I never act like this. As soon as Frien attacked me, I went… crazy. And now he's going crazy too. Crap, crap, crap, this is not good. I can't seem to stop myself._

She snatched at the knife in his hand, but he sidestepped and grabbed her by the hair. "Never mess with a scientist," he giggled, drawing her closer to his chest. She snarled.

"Scientist?" She asked, swiping his wrist with her nails. He didn't flinch, and she scowled. "I'm the scientist here," Amaya whispered, grabbing the hand that held the scalpel. She tried to pull it closer to her, but he resisted easily. A bead of sweat ran down her face, and she scowled into his smiling face. "Give me that," she repeated, pulling harder on his hand.

"No," he said, releasing her suddenly. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder and she looked to see Frien removing the needle from her skin. Her eyes widened, and the strange mania controlling her brain drained away immediately.

"You jerk!" She exclaimed. "You were only pretending to be crazy to distract me!" Her eyes narrowed. "That's pretty low."

Frien shook his head and sat down on her bed, resting his chin on a fist, the classic thinking pose. "I may have been pretending," he said, "but I can assure you that I was just as insane when I was your age. I still am, actually. I just hide it better than you. Discipline, that's what you need. Control."

Amaya shook her head in disbelief. "You're actually coaching me on being crazy," she said. "I'll admit; I didn't see that one coming."

Frien shrugged. "I'm not here to coach you," he said. "I only came to see just how crazy you are."

"Well? Just how crazy am I?"

"Fairly crazy," Frien answered, and Amaya's heart dropped. "It appears that you only turn insane when you get involved in a fight, but that still poses a great danger to you. You fight with no regard for your own safety. If you ever get involved in a fight where someone really wants to kill you, they will."

"You fight pretty well."

"I've been training for years. Have you ever even found yourself in combat before?"

"Once," Amaya said sulkily. "What's it to you?"

Frien smiled. "You are just like your mother," he said. Amaya froze.

"My mother?" She asked. "You know my mother?"

"Suki Ess, right?" Amaya nodded slowly. "She and I were friends in the Academy."

"Oh," Amaya said. "That's… nice. What was in that shot, anyway?"

"It was a vaccine. All the students in the Academy have to get one. How is your mother, anyway?"

Amaya bit her lip. "She's… alright," she said lamely.

"Alright? How so?"

"What does _that _mean?"

"It means I think you're lying, and I want you to tell me why."

"She's sick," Amaya muttered. "Nobody knows what it is, or why she has it, but she's not getting any better. I don't know if she's dying or not, but I think she is. That good enough for you?"

Frien looked startled. "No," he said. "What are the symptoms?"

"Don't bother trying to diagnose," Amaya said, sitting down on the floor exhaustedly. "Nobody ever knows what it is."

"Symptoms," Frien demanded.

Amaya sighed. "She has these horrible nosebleeds. It takes forever for her to stop bleeding, and by then she's dizzy and faint. Her muscles are weak, and she doesn't get out of bed much. She's always tired, but at night she can't sleep well. She says she has these dreams… Sometimes she hallucinates so badly that she doesn't even recognize me. And the bleeding's only getting worse. The doctor's predicted that at the rate she's going, she'll have such a bad nosebleed she'll bleed to death before the end of the year. That gives her a half a year left, and now I'm here to meet up with some stupid father I've never met before who apparently can't know about my existence yet because if I'm lying about him being my dad, it could affect him badly." Amaya's tongue flopped out. "Phew. I never talk that much."

Frien stared at her thoughtfully. "Who's your dad?" He asked. Amaya stared up at him.

"If I tell you, you might tell _him_," she complained. "And then the Reaper will murder me."

"Fine," Frien said simply. His eyes burned with curiosity, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. He got to his feet and headed for the cell door.

"You're leaving?" Amaya asked. She didn't like Frien, exactly, but he was better than no one.

"Yes," Frien said, without turning back. He reached the door and started to pull it open, pausing suddenly at the threshold. "The symptoms you described to me remind me of something I've heard about before," he said, without turning around. "I don't know, but I might be able to help your mother." He slipped through the crack between the door and the wall, and shut the door behind him. Amaya heard the unmistakable sound of a lock turning, and sighed. _He might be able to save Mom? _She thought. There was a tiny flare of hope in her chest, but she was careful not to blow on it. If she did that and Frien turned out to be wrong… She'd fall into a pit of despair that would extinguish not only her hope but all of her light, as well.

* * *

><p>Stein stepped out of Amaya's room and was immediately confronted by Spirit. The Death Scythe had been leaning against a wall, looking bored. "Hey, Stein," he said, waving a hand. "Did you like Amaya?"<p>

"I'm not answering that," Stein said, tossing the key to his friend and walking deeper underground.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Spirit asked, walking up to Stein and matching his pace. "You look upset."

"Do you remember Suki Ess?" Stein asked.

"Suki? She was Kami's weapon before me," Spirit replied. "Wait a minute- she's Amaya's mother?"

"Yes," Stein said. "I want to know who the father is."

Spirit looked shocked for a moment, and then a sly grin crept up his face. "I get it," he said mischievously. "You're jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Stein protested. "It's just that, Amaya looks about fourteen, and if she is that means that Suki was in love with somebody else when she was eighteen, because that's when Amaya was conceived. And if Amaya is here now, looking for her father, he works at the Academy. So I want to know who he is."

"Why?" Spirit asked. "You're with Marie now. I mean, she is away in Oceania at the moment, but digging up all this stuff will probably only make her mad."

"I still want to know," Stein repeated dully. "I wonder why Suki hated me."

Spirit laughed nervously. "Who knows? I didn't really like being your weapon either… did you experiment on her?"

Stein narrowed his eyes. "There's something you're not telling me, Spirit," he said, pulling a cigarette out of his breast pocket and lighting up. "What?"

Spirit checked his watch. "Whoa- I've left my class alone for way to long. I'd better get back!" He darted off into the darkness and Stein sighed. "It's not even his class," he said, and followed the Death Scythe.

* * *

><p>Five seconds later, a trio stepped in front of the door to Amaya's cell. Death the Kid looked at his surroundings and scowled. "This corridor," he sniffed. "Will you look at all the imperfections? It's totally abhorrent, isn't it, Liz?"<p>

"Oh yes," Liz said dryly, adjusting her hat and yawning. "Totally."

"This is boring," Patti complained, dragging her feet. "Why can't we ever do anything fun, Kid?"

"We are doing something fun," Kid said, swinging a large grey key around his forefinger. "We're visiting a girl in a cell down here. Isn't that fun?"

"No," Patti pouted.

"She might be crazy," Liz said, patting her sister on the shoulders. "Isn't that cool? Crazy like Dr. Stein!"

This seemed to renew Patti's spirits. "A real-live crazy person!" She said excitedly. "I'm excited!"

"Yeah, well, we'll be working with her for some time," Kid said. "I just hope she isn't asymmetrical. Can you imagine how bad that could be?"

"Yes," Liz said, rolling her eyes. Kid frowned. _I can tell that you think I'm crazy, Liz, _he thought. _You don't have to be so blatant about it._

"Well, here we are," he said, inserting the key he'd gotten from his father into the door. "Let's all be nice to her, and- oh God, what is that hideous thing?" He bolted in the room, staring in disgust at the mane of silver hair streaked with black on the head of an otherwise nondescript girl. He snatched it and lifted it up. "What the hell are you?"

"Let go of me!" Amaya snapped, swatting at Kid's hand. He ignored her and stared at her hair, paranoia gripping his heart like a vise.

"Liz, Patty!" He cried. "Come look! _Look!_"

"It's hair, Kid," Liz pointed out.

"Look at the hair!" Kid exclaimed. "All those streaks of black and silver- it's not symmetrical at all!"

"Let her go, Kid," Liz said, snatching away the mini-Reaper's hand. "You're freaking her out."

Amaya sat on the bed, looking up at Kid with suspicious eyes. She rubbed her head. "Why is everybody attacking me today?" She complained. "First that crazy Dr. Frien shows up and stabs me with a needle, and now you have a problem with my hair! What's wrong with you people?"

"Kid has a symmetry problem," Liz said immediately. "If something isn't symmetrical, he freaks out. That's why your weird hair bothers him so much."

"Symmetry problem?"

"Weird hair?"

"Hi, crazy girl!" Patti said, sitting next to Amaya and poking her nose. "I'm Patti!" She grabbed Amaya by the shoulders and pulled her in, observing her face closely. "You don't look any different than a normal person to me."

"Am I supposed to?" Amaya said, her face turning bright red. "That's it- I officially hate this place!" She pulled out of Patti's grasp and rolled in a ball on the bed. "Just go away, all of you. As soon as that dumb Reaper lets me out I'm going home."

Kid bristled. "Dumb Reaper? You're talking about my father, you know."

"Then you can tell him that he's dumb from me. I don't care anymore; I just want to go home." The room became awkwardly silent.

"Maybe we should start again," Liz said, moving from Kid's side. "Why don't you uncurl so we can talk?"

"No," Amaya said stubbornly.

"Please?" Liz asked.

"No."

"Pretty please?" Patti chimed in.

"No."

"Reaper smack!" Kid cried. Amaya bolted up, eyes wide. When she realized that Kid hadn't actually moved, she narrowed her eyes.

"That was just low," she said.

"And?" Kid asked. He swallowed slowly and squinted. When he looked at the girl like that, he could barely tell that her hair was a monstrosity to humankind. "My name is Death the Kid. It is a… pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Amaya said suspiciously. "I'm Amaya. Why are you squinting?"

"I have contacts," Kid said weakly.

"I'm Liz," Liz said.

"And I'm Patti!" Patti squealed. "Can I look at your teeth?"

"What?" Amaya asked, but Patti was already pulling her lips back from her teeth.

"It's official," the demon gun exclaimed. "You're just like a normal person!"

"That again," Amaya complained, pulling away. "What, are psychos supposed to look different?"

"Not really," Patti said. "I just wanted to see if maybe you were." She giggled maniacally and hopped off Amaya's bed, doing a cartwheel on the stone floor. Amaya stared, and rubbed her forehead.

"I haven't met a single normal person since I came here," she complained.

"What about me?" Liz asked, looking offended.

"Well, I suppose," Amaya said. "But if you're normal, why the heck are you with them?"

"Circumstance," Liz sighed.

Kid looked around the room slowly. Amaya herself was a problem that couldn't be fixed at the moment, but the room's bland décor wasn't symmetrical either, he realized, and he could fix that. "Get off the bed!" He barked, pulling Amaya up to stand with Liz and Patti. He went at the rumpled sheets like a madman, making the bed neatly and symmetrically. When the job was done, he pushed the bed into the center of the room. "There," he panted, stepping back to admire his handiwork. "Much better."

Amaya wrinkled her nose skeptically. "Now the bed's right under the window," she complained. "How am I supposed to sleep with the moon shining right on my face?"

"You'll have to deal with it," Kid said, smiling proudly at his handiwork. "The real question here is how you can sleep knowing that the symmetry in your room is off."

"You're right," she said sarcastically. "I don't know how I manage."

Kid took a deep breath through his nose. "Are you always this annoying?" He asked.

"No," Amaya sighed, going over to her newly symmetrical bed and sitting down. "It seems that I'm only annoying now that I'm at the DWMA. But, in my defense, everybody is getting on my nerves."

"We all have idiosyncrasies here," Kid said. "What's yours?"

"Being a nutcase," Amaya said. "Is that good?"

Kid smiled. "It's great," he said, offering her his hand. "Welcome to the club- ugh."

"What? Is there something wrong with my handshake? Not symmetrical enough for you?"

"No, that's fine," Kid said seriously. "It's the hair- every time I look at you I feel repulsed."

Amaya rubbed her head. "Wow," she said. "Way to screw up my self-confidence."

"Give me your hat, Liz," Kid said. He placed it on her head, and then shook his head. "No, I can still see the asymmetry." He sat down next to her and grabbed her hair with one hand, carefully gathering it all in a makeshift bun and shoving it on top of her head. He slapped the hat down over it and smiled, satisfied. "There we go," he said. "Much better."

Amaya smiled for the first time. "Glad to hear it," she said. "Now, if you don't talk about symmetry for the rest of this visit, we might all actually be friends."

"That's good," Kid said, "Because I'm going to be sticking around with you for a while. My father wants you to have some positive influences."

The girl's face fell. "You're only here because you were ordered to be?"

"No," Liz said quickly. "Kid's father never ordered us to be here. We came because we wanted to."

Amaya smiled again. "Thanks," she said. "The kids who brought me here seem to think I'm some kind of monster."

"Other than the hair, I can't see a reason they'd think that," Kid said truthfully. "You don't seem awful at all. I mean, we all heard about the old man, but you said you were possessed by a witch then, right? I don't see a reason to disbelieve you."

"That makes me feel a lot better," Amaya said. She flopped down on the bed and stared up at the bars on her window. "I hate feeling like a prisoner. I mean, it's never happened to me before, but now that it has, I really don't like it."

Liz went over to sit by the girl. "Don't worry," she said. "We'll get you out of here in no time. I guarantee it."

Amaya smiled gratefully. "Thanks so much," she said. "That would be great."

Kid smiled too. He hadn't really talked to anybody new in a while; only hanging out with the gang led to that, he supposed. At first he'd been mad when he'd found out about his father's plans for his little group, but they'd all be sticking around the Academy anyway. They'd still see each other, as long as Amaya didn't decide to leave the Academy like she'd been threatening.

So Kid took a deep breath and walked to Amaya's bedside, sitting on the other side of her to balance out the symmetry. "Once we get you out of this cell, you should stay at the Academy. You can learn how to be a good meister… or are you a weapon?"

"I'm a meister, I think," Amaya said. "I've never really shown any signs of being a weapon, even though my mom's one."

"A meister, then," Kid said. "I'm sure we can find you a weapon somewhere. And then you can learn how to unlock your full potential, and maybe even save the world someday. Who knows?"

Amaya nodded slowly. "Maybe," she said. "I might. I just don't know right now."

Kid nodded seriously and studied the girl below him. They still didn't know whether or not she was Franken Stein's daughter, but there was something about her that reminded Kid of the Professor. She had the same lanky stature and the same curious eyes, as well as the same silver hair, although hers also had the disgusting black stripes… Kid fingered his own hair nervously. The Lines of Sanzu hadn't reconnected since the fight with the Kishin, although he'd done his utmost to make it happen. When they stayed on one side like that…

"I'm GARBAGE!" He wailed, throwing himself to the floor. "I'M NOTHING! WORTHLESS, ASSYMETRICAL TRASH!"

Patti, Liz and Amaya were at his side in an instant. "No you're not, Kid," Liz said calmly. "You're great. It's just hair, right?"

"Yeah!" Patti exclaimed. "Amaya has asymmetrical hair too, and she's not crying!"

"Comfort him, Amaya," Liz said. "If you're going to be part of this team, you're going to have to know how." Amaya nodded, and she patted Kid on the back.

"You'll be okay, Kid," she said soothingly. "It's only hair. I barely even noticed that it was asymmetrical, honestly!"

"Really?" Kid asked, getting to his knees.

"Yes!" Everyone said at once, and he smiled and got up.

"Alright, then," he said. "Thank you, friends." He noticed that Amaya seemed happy being included in the team, and he smiled internally.

Amaya's stomach growled suddenly, and she winced. "Hey, are you hungry?" Liz asked. "Typical Spirit, forgetting to bring you some food. Do you want us to go get you something?"

"If that wouldn't be too much trouble," Amaya said, and Liz and Patti rose.

"Don't worry, Amaya," Kid said, heading for the door. "Whatever we bring you back will be perfectly symmetrical, never you fear!" Liz, Patti, and Death the Kid all exited the room, and Amaya closed her eyes contentedly. Above her, a large rat swished its tail on the windowsill. Its glowing red eyes slowly faded to black, and it squealed as though being released from a trance before hurrying off the sill.

* * *

><p>"Oh, that's disappointing."<p>

The woman staring in her crystal ball frowned and stood up, walking away from the glass orb on the table. She tossed her pink hair away from her face and pouted. "I really thought that the DWMA would treat poor little Amaya with more hostility. Now she trusts them; that screws everything up."

She wandered through the darkness she so enjoyed in a home until she made it to the last chamber of her abode. There, tied to a post, were the two people she'd wasted the past few weeks in procuring. They didn't look like much, but apparently Medusa had awoken a Kishin with them. That was enough.

One of them, Eruka Frog, was stirring. The woman knelt down beside her and touched her on the cheek. "Wake up, Eruka. And you too, Free or whatever your name is. I have work for you."

Their eyes snapped open at once, straining to see her from where she was crouched in the shadows. No doubt they were remembering her Whip around their necks, choking them into submission and eventually blackness.

"Who the hell are you?" Free growled, straining at the ropes. The woman laughed, tossing her pink hair with a sinister smile.

"Your new mistress," she said. "Show some respect."

"Like hell I will," Free growled, muscles bulging. The woman pointed at him with a menacing finger, and he froze.

"If you continue doing that, I'll finish the spell I started when you were unconscious," she giggled, rising to her feet, her brown robe falling around her.

"What spell?" Eruka Frog stated, coming fully awake.

"It's a simple one, really," the woman laughed. "All I did was put a little bit of a growing spell on your teeth. If I instruct them to, they'll keep on growing, backwards into your skulls. That will kill you outright, Eruka, and it will debilitate you, Free. How well do you think you can fight with teeth growing through your brain? Then I'll simply tell the Grandwitch your location, and let her finish what I started."

Eruka's face was the picture of horror. "Oh no," she whispered.

"Oh yes," the woman said. "You worked for Medusa, and now you'll work for me. Did you think you could escape, Eruka? Or you, Free? How wrong the both of you were." She laughed chillingly.

"Who are you?" Free repeated, and the woman smiled.

"My name is Rattiu," she said. "That's all you need to know for now." She turned, and smiled, waving a well-manicured hand at the both of them. "Be ready," she said. "I'm going to need the both of you very soon." Then she stepped away, leaving her two prisoners in darkness, at least until she needed them.

* * *

><p><strong>End of Chapter Three!<strong>

**Also, many thanks to Sophia Griffin, DarkDemonRaYven, and D Snorlax for reviewing. Go check out their profiles, readers! (Except D Snorlax, who was anonymous.) Ciao for now!**


	4. Missing: What Happened to Suki?

**Behold, the approach of the mighty Chapter Four!**

***Blaring Trumpets**

**Excalibur: EXCAAALLLIBUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRR !**

**Me: Okay, I've seriously had enough of random characters popping into my introductions. I'm going to have to put up a sign or something...**

* * *

><p>"And then I beat Mifune to a pulp! That should show him for messing with a god like me!"<p>

Celeste nodded and stifled a yawn in her hand. She'd only been with Black Star and Tsubaki for about a day, and yet somehow she'd heard the story of how Black Star had beaten Mifune at least twenty different times. Every time he told it, it got a little more impressive, until in the latest retelling, Mifune had become Kishin and tried to steal Black Star's soul, and the boy proceeded to tear him apart.

"Mifune's our teacher, you know," Aia said, "And I'm pretty sure he's not a Kishin."

Black Star shrugged. "Details," he said, cracking his knuckles. "The point is, Mifune never knew what hit him!"

"Cool," Celeste said, to maintain the peace. "You know, once I…"

"YAHOOO!" Black Star yelled, leaping onto the top of a nearby house. "LISTEN UP, PEOPLE OF THIS TOWN! I'M BLACK STAR, AND I'M HERE TO MAKE YOUR BORING LIVES A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING! WITH A BIG GUY LIKE ME AROUND HERE, YOU CAN REJOICE, AND DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIVES! I'LL CARRY YOU ALL ALONG ON MY WAVE OF AWESOMENESS! I'LL- what is it, Tsubaki?"

"Why don't you come down from there, Black Star?" The demon weapon called. "You could slip and fall, and then we'd never find Amaya's mother!"

"I wouldn't slip," Black Star said, but he hopped off the roof and came back to his partner. "But you're right- without me these two would have approximately zero chance of succeeding."

"Hey!" Celeste said. "We were doing just fine without you!"

"Yeah right," Black Star yawned. "Defeating Genghis Khan is one thing, but destroying the Kishin Asura is a bazillion times better! With me around, you'll become a better meister automatically!"

"Alright," Celeste sighed. It was no use arguing with Black Star; every time she tried he'd somehow managed to turn the conversation back to himself and how amazing he was. When she'd first met him it had seemed only mildly annoying, but by now it felt as though a second, more conceited Garo had popped out of the ground and was following her everywhere. And the idea of two Garos was simply horrifying.

"So…" Aia said. "What do you think we should say when we meet Amaya's mother?"

"I'll explain the situation," Black Star said immediately. "It should be easier on her if a big star breaks the news to her that her daughter's a nutcase."

"Maybe you should phrase it a bit differently, okay?" Tsubaki asked nervously. Black Star nodded.

"You're right," he said. "She's more of a psycho." Tsubaki sighed.

"According to the address we got from the villagers, Suki Ess should live in… this house," Aia said, pointing at a flaking green door. "I guess we should knock or something." Celeste nodded, strode up to the door, and knocked on it once, hard. There was no reply.

"Hello?" She called, knocking again. Nothing.

"HEY LADY!" Black Star roared into the door, pounding at it with his fist. "OPEN UP!" When there was no response, he stared at the door with a quizzical expression on his face. "Huh. Guess no one's home."

"She could just be ignoring us," Celeste said, and grinned. "Let's break down the door."

"Celeste!" Aia exclaimed, looking horrified. "That's totally illegal!"

"So? I've kinda always wanted to break down a door… Admit it, it would be fun."

Aia shook her head stubbornly. "Oh, no," she said. "If you're going in that house, I'm staying out here and keeping guard. There's no way I'm going to be caught doing something illegal."

"I'm going in too," Black Star said immediately. "Tsubaki- Chain Scythe mode! If somebody hurt this lady, they're going to regret it."

Celeste rubbed her hands together. "Take this, door!" She yelled, and leapt into the air, twisting until her foot was directly in front of the door. She shoved outwards as hard as she could and was rewarded with a sharp cracking sound as her foot went through the wood completely. She drew it out and twisted again, landing on her hands and feet like a cat.

Black Star grinned. "Nice execution, but you should work on the way you balance the power of your kick. If you wanted to, you could've kicked it so that the energy was focused on the hinges of the door, and not the door itself. Watch this!" He jumped at the door and somersaulted in the air before landing on the door with both feet spread far apart. He kicked off, and as he landed on the stoop, the door groaned and fell in on itself in a cloud of dust. "And that's how you do it," Black Star grinned.

Celeste grinned back. Black Star was annoying, but he was good at what he did. Celeste had been learning martial arts under Mifune, and Black Star still knew more than she did. Clearly, the Reaper had been right; partnering up could be beneficial for Aia and her.

"YAHOO! HERE WE COME, MRS. ESS!"

_Okay, maybe 'beneficial' is a strong word._

Celeste followed Black Star and Tsubaki through the empty doorframe. After clearing away the dust that was swirling around her, she took in the sight of a tidy kitchen that didn't look like the home of a crazy girl at all. There was a withered potted plant on the windowsill, and Celeste crossed over to it and picked up one of the leaves between her thumb and forefinger. The slightest pressure from her, and it withered into dust. "I don't think anyone's been here for a while," she called. There was no reply. "Hey, Black Star? Tsubaki? Guys?"

"Up here, Celeste!" She heard, followed by a distant 'yahoo,' from Black Star. Celeste turned to see a rickety wooden staircase which she climbed quickly, biting her lip at every creak. If Amaya ever did come home only to find that Celeste had broken her door and her stairs, she would be royally pissed.

"Where are you guys?" Celeste asked, finding herself on floor two of the Ess residence.

"In here!" Tsubaki called. "There's nothing here, so far. It's weird; I don't think Mrs. Ess is still here. I can't think of what might have happened."

"I can think of a lot of things," Celeste said darkly. "One of them being that Amaya's lying to us. Maybe Suki Ess never even existed."

"But the villagers, remember?" Tsubaki called. "They all knew about her."

"That's true," Celeste said, remembering. She walked towards the sound of Tsubaki's voice and entered a tidy bathroom. Black Star was peering behind the shower curtain suspiciously, but there was nothing there.

"I don't like this," he said, seeing Celeste. "I think there's something wrong here. And who better than me, the Almighty Black Star, to figure it out?" He puffed out his chest proudly.

"Oh Black Star," Tsubaki sighed, and Celeste had to smile at her tone. "Why don't we check the bedrooms next?"

Black Star nodded. "YAHOO!" He yelled, and shot past Celeste, turning the doorknob on one of the two remaining rooms and charging inside. Celeste followed him with a sigh and stopped when she realized that she was standing in Amaya's room. It was painted dark orange and was the kind of room Celeste had used to have before Aia had redecorated (Celeste was still trying to get her stuff back into a respectable mess, but every time she came home it was neatly put away. Damn that demon spear.) There were clothes stuffed in a hamper messily in the corner, and books everywhere. Celeste took a step forward and tripped over a particularly fat tome entitled, _The Second Flight_. It looked as though Amaya had read it a thousand times. Celeste brushed herself off and picked up the book.

"Hey Black Star," she said. He looked up from where he was checking under the bed. Celeste held up the book. "Do you want to take some of this stuff back for Amaya? She didn't have anything with her when we brought her back to the Academy and she must want it."

Black Star shrugged. "Sure, I guess," he said. He snatched a canvas bag from a hook on the wall and grabbed what looked like a stuffed Reaper off the floor. "I used to have one of these!" He tossed it in the bag. "Just fill it up with whatever a girl would want," he said, throwing the bag at Celeste. She nodded and caught it, heading over to the clothes immediately. She didn't know what exactly Amaya liked, and just grabbed a couple of handfuls and shoved them in. The book came next, and she swept the stuff off Amaya's bedside table into the bag as a final treat for the girl. She slung the bag over her shoulder and followed Black Star, who was already heading back to the hallway.

The boy walked towards the final room and grabbed the handle. As he twisted it, a tiny note of foreboding colored Celeste's mind, and she closed her eyes and opened them again, searching for any souls in the room. There was nothing, and she breathed a sigh of relief and followed Black Star into the room.

The room was simple; just a bed and a bedside table along with a dresser. This was probably where Suki Ess had been until recently, because now the bed was empty. "Well, I guess that's it," Celeste said. "There really isn't anybody here."

Black Star looked disappointed. "I guess there's nobody to fight, then," he sighed, sitting on the bed. "What a waste of talent."

"Did you check under the bed, Black Star?" Tsubaki asked. Black Star shook his head and tossed the demon weapon on the bed, bending down to inspect the bottom of Suki Ess' bed. He went rigid suddenly.

"Oh my God," he whispered.

"What is it, Black Star?" Tsubaki yelled.

"Look at this," Black Star said, sounding choked. "It's awful!"

"What?" Tsubaki yelped, morphing into human form on the bed. "What is it, Black Star? Really!"

"It's… it's… There's a bra down here! Yuck! It's horrible!"

"… A bra?" Celeste asked dryly, kneeling next to Black Star and fishing it out. She inspected it. "Looks normal to me."

"I'm never going to get it out of my head," Black Star said in a hoarse whisper. "It was disgusting."

"It's okay, Black Star," Tsubaki said, sitting next to him and patting him on the shoulder. "It could have been worse. It could have been a tampon or something!" At that, Black Star gagged and curled up in a ball, making retching noises. Celeste rolled her eyes and flattened herself on the floor, pushing herself further under the bed with her hands. Her roving eyes immediately spotted something small and crumpled, and she reached out and snagged it.

"Somebody pull me out, okay?" She asked. No reply. "Guys? Hello?" There was still no reply, and then a far-away 'yahoo,' echoed through the house. "GUYS? Ugh, they must have left without me. Now I'm stuck. Typical." She tried to shove herself backwards, but only succeeded in getting her hands squashed under her chest. "Somebody? Anybody? Hello? Okay Celeste, just don't panic. Somebody will get you eventually. Aia wouldn't just abandon you here, right?" A metal picture of Aia popped into Celeste's head. _Of course I wouldn't abandon you here, silly! _She said. _Although… I mean, if I just left you here I could finally redecorate our apartment to utter perfection without you throwing your stuff all over the place. Hmm. You know what? I wouldn't count on me. Sayonara! _She disappeared.

"…SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Celeste wailed, kicking her feet. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE UNDER A BED; THAT'S JUST LAME!"

"Hey Celeste? What's taking you so long?" Black Star asked, reentering the room. Celeste groaned and flopped onto the floor.

"Just pull me out," she growled. "Now."

"Sure," Black Star said, grabbing her legs. He yanked once, hard, and she popped out from under the small space, arms aching.

"Ouch," she grumbled, stretching out like a cat. Her palm unfurled and the scrap of white paper she'd discovered fell onto the carpeting.

"Hey, what's that?" Tsubaki asked, bending down to pick it up.

"Something I found under the bed," Celeste said. Tsubaki smoothed it out on the floor and gasped.

"Black Star, Celeste, you have to see this! There's writing on it, and I think it's from Mrs. Ess to Amaya!"

Celeste and Black Star crowded next to Tsubaki on the carpet. Celeste looked at the paper on the ground. It was crumpled and the handwriting was messy, as though Suki had written it in a hurry. _Dear Amaya, _it said. _I have a lot to tell you, but now I have no time to do it. There's a witch on the way; I can see her soul and she's here for me. She turned her Soul Protect off, and this leads me to believe that something terrible is going to happen. I don't think she'll kill me, but in all likelihood when you find this I'll be missing; she'll have kidnapped me. I'm sorry, darling. I sent you to Franken Stein, your father, to keep you safe, but I don't think you'll be able to get out of this mess. She's coming up the stairs now. Be good, try to forgive your father, and don't forget the Soulya story- it's going to be very important. Goodbye, darling, I love you. Suki._

For a few minutes, there was silence. "Soulya," Celeste said. "She said something about Soulya to the Reaper and it seemed to upset him. We're going to have to ask her about it, but…" She reached out, folded the note tenderly, and put it in her pocket. "I think this proves that she's Stein's daughter, though. It also proves she didn't kill the villagers, because now there are two reports of a witch, one from each of them. She's innocent."

"All I know is that there's a witch involved in this." Black Star cracked his knuckles. "When I catch up to her, she's going to regret kidnapping Mrs. Ess."

"I wonder who's going to tell Amaya," Celeste sighed. Everyone looked up at each other.

"NOT ME." They said, at the exact same time.

"I'm too big of a guy to deliver bad news like that!" Black Star complained.

"Whenever I deliver bad news, I cry!" Tsubaki said.

"I said 'not me' a little bit before both of you…?" Celeste said. "Besides, wouldn't Amaya like to hear it from a big guy like you, Black Star?"

Black Star snorted. "Nah. She'd want to hear it from a small fry like you. She wouldn't know how to act in front of me, the one who surpassed god."

"Don't even try that with me!"

"Guys! Please don't fight!"

"WE'LL FIGHT IF WE WANT TO!"

"Okay."

"COO-COO-COOWAH-COO! COO-COO-COOWAH-COO!"

"Okay, what the heck was that?" Black Star asked.

Celeste groaned. "That sounded like Aia trying to sound like a bird. Which would mean she's trying to warn us that somebody discovered the door." They all jumped at the sound of loud and furious footsteps stomping up the stairs. Celeste swallowed nervously. "Let's jump out a window."

"Let's." Black Star agreed.

Five seconds later, the room was empty, and each of the three windows had a hole in it that looked suspiciously like one a person jumping through the glass might make.

* * *

><p>"… And then, Celeste discovered a note under Suki Ess' bed, and…"<p>

"I'll read it out loud now!" Celeste said quickly; anything to shut Aia up. Her weapon partner was her best friend, but her reports were so mind-numbingly boring that Celeste had started to compose music in her head in time to Aia's ever-moving mouth. Of course, if she ever did anything with the music her reputation would be ruined, so she figured she'd just leave some sheet music in Aia's room and let the demon spear do with it what she would.

Celeste read the note to Lord Death quickly, her voice devoid of emotion. The Reaper looked stunned at the note's conclusion. "That's just terrible!" He said sympathetically. "Poor Amaya! I feel just terrible for having treated her so crudely."

"I'm sure she doesn't blame you, Lord Death," Tsubaki said. "Of course, she's not going to be happy, hearing about this."

"I know," the Reaper sighed, and then folded his hands in a business-like manner. "There's only one thing to do in this situation. Somebody's going to have to tell her."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Celeste said. "Somebody? Aren't _you _going to do it?"

Lord Death shifted uncomfortably. "Well… I _could_," he said. "But doesn't one of you want to do it? You could form a lasting bond with her!"

"By telling her that her mother's been kidnapped?" Celeste asked.

"Yup!" The Reaper said happily. "That's exactly how friendships are made! Tell you what," he continued. "The four of you can go down to Amaya's cell right now and let her out! Also, tell her what happened to her mother, and let her know that she can see Franken Stein now. Ciao!" He dropped the key to Amaya's cell in Celeste's hand and shooed them out of the Death Room, slamming the door.

_Crap, _Celeste thought. _I forgot to ask him about Soulya. I suppose that I could ask Amaya, if she's not furiously angry with me. She probably is, though._

"Alright," she sighed. "I guess we should all go- Tsubaki; Black Star, where are you guys going?"

"Sorry, Celeste!" Black Star called. "We decided that this is one thing you're going to have to accomplish without our help. Good luck!" Tsubaki and Black Star rounded a corner and were gone.

"The jerks," Celeste muttered, turning to Aia. "You in?"

"Of course! I'm not going to ignore a direct order from Lord Death!"

Celeste grinned, starting to walk towards the stairs that would lead downstairs to Amaya's cell. "Glad to know I'll have a friend down there," she said. "You'll mop me up if Amaya dissects me, right?"

"I suppose I will," Aia said. "Hopefully she won't try."

"I've got her bag with me, anyway," Celeste said. "That should appease her."

"Don't tease her, Celeste," Aia said sternly. "Her mother's missing."

"Right, sorry," Celeste said, feeling momentarily abashed. Aia was the only one whose rebukes she listened to. That part of Celeste's nature had been formed on her first day at the Academy, actually. Celeste had been playing around with a rubber ball, and Aia had warned her to put it away. Celeste snorted, turned, and accidentally shot the ball through a window. Just then, Franken Stein had turned the corner, and Aia immediately said that Celeste had tripped and dropped the ball reflexively. Stein grudgingly accepted the story, and as soon as he left, Celeste had asked Aia if she wanted to be partners. Ever since, she listened to what the demon spear had to say.

Celeste blinked, realizing that they'd made it to Amaya's cell while she'd been daydreaming. She frowned and stared at the door, inserting the key. "Hey Amaya!" She yelled, knocking. "I have some good news for you!"

"Huh?"

"I'm coming in, okay?" Celeste asked. She opened the door and was treated to the sight of Amaya, Death the Kid, Liz and Patti sitting on the floor in a circle. There was what looked like a giraffe made out of napkins in front of them, and they were all staring at it unblinkingly, eyes narrowed.

Celeste stared. "Hi…" She said. No one looked up. "What're you guys doing?"

"Ssh!" Patti said, still staring at the giraffe. "You're messing up my concentration!"

Now Celeste was really confused. "Okay, what the hell's going on?" She snapped.

"Patti seems to think that if we stare at this giraffe long enough, it will burst into flames," Kid said. "And we decided to see if she was right."

"It's been three hours," Amaya said in a choked voice. "Three. Hours." None of their eyes moved from the giraffe.

"This is… incredibly creepy," Celeste admitted, sitting beside Amaya and staring at the giraffe. Whoever had made it clearly had skill- it was a very elegant giraffe; colored in nicely. She narrowed her eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened.

There was silence in the room as everyone stared as hard as they could at the giraffe. Celeste realized that Aia wasn't in the circle, but wasn't about to look away from the giraffe to see where she went. _Forget about my mission! I'll just sit here and watch the giraffe for a while. It's actually kinda relaxing… What the hell?_

"AIA CHOP!"

Everyone in the circle stared forlornly at the crushed giraffe. "That was mean," Patti sniffled, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

"It was indeed," Aia said, sitting on the other side of Amaya. "Anyway," she said uncomfortably. "How's your hand, by the way? I'm sorry I had to slash it."

"It's fine," Amaya said, holding it up. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you."

"Apology accepted," Aia said, and Celeste slapped Amaya's back so hard she fell over. The girl sat back up, but she was grinning.

"So, did you guys just come down here to make up with me? Not that that's a problem- I'm really grateful."

"Well, no," Celeste said. "We also came down here to give you some news. The Reaper has decided to release you!"

"Really? That's great!" Neither of them smiled, and Amaya's excitement seemed to dull. "What's the matter?"

"We went to your house," Celeste said. "We were trying to find your mother."

"Trying…?" Amaya asked nervously. Her face went completely white. "Oh my god! She's dead, isn't she?"

"No, no," Aia said quickly. "Well, we don't think so…" She trailed off and Celeste tossed the note to Amaya. The girl's eyes flitted through the words, biting her lip. By the time she made it to the end of the letter, she was in tears, shoulders shaking. She released the note and it fluttered to the floor; the cell was so quiet that there was an audible sound.

"I can't believe this…" Amaya whispered. "No. NO!" She slammed her fist against the stone floor, tears flooding her eyes. "My mother's sick!" She sobbed. "This witch will kill her without even knowing it!" Everyone in the room was at her side in an instant; even Celeste, although she barely knew Amaya. She found herself patting Amaya's back rhythmically as the others tried to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry, Amaya," Liz said.

"Me too," Aia said. "I'm also sorry that Celeste trespassed in your house…"

"We'll catch this nasty ole witch, so don't worry!" Patti said, giving her a thumb's-up.

"It'll be alright, Amaya," Kid said, kneeling beside her. "We've dealt with witches before, and I swear to you that we'll find and destroy this one and save your mother."

Celeste gently placed Amaya's bag in front of the sobbing girl. Amaya looked at it questioningly. "It's from your room," Celeste offered, and a tiny smile flashed across Amaya's face.

"Thanks," she whispered. "I left all my luggage in that village." Her face clouded over, and she bit her lip again, harder than before. "Oh god," she whispered, and collapsed, curling in on herself. Everyone jumped, and Celeste placed her hand to Amaya's neck.

"She's alive," Celeste said quickly. "I think she fainted, though."

Kid sighed and scooped her up, tossing her lightly on her bed. "This is terrible," he said quietly, sitting on the edge. "The poor girl's had nothing but trauma since she came to the Academy." He put his head in his hands. "We have to find the witch," he said darkly. "I've only known Amaya for a few days, and it's obvious how much she cares about her mother. Worrying about her mother is going to drive her…"

"Insane," Aia finished, looking disturbed.

"Not necessarily," Liz said. "I think Amaya will be able to resist the Madness inside her."

"Perhaps," Kid said, looking forlornly at the figure on the bed. He got to his feet. "Come on Liz; Patti. We have to get started." Liz and Patti immediately walked to Kid's side.

"What are you going to do?" Aia asked.

"We're going to the library," Kid answered. "I'm going to try and find some information on this Soulya character and any witches she got tangled up with. It might lead to something." Aia nodded her approval.

"Should we just leave her here, then?" Celeste asked.

"No; bring her to Nygus or Dr. Stein." Kid, Liz and Patti walked through the open door and were gone. Celeste looked dubiously at Amaya.

"She's pretty thin, but she's also pretty tall. Carrying her might be tricky."

Aia snorted. "Fighting a Kishin is tricky. Carrying a teenager is easy."

"Okay…" Celeste said; crossing over and hoisting her up by the shoulders. "Urk… she's heavy."

"Don't be insulting!" Aia said, grabbing her by the legs and swinging her up. She winced. "Wow. For such a skinny waist, she's remarkably hard to hold up- NOT THAT I'M SAYING SHE'S FAT. FAR FROM IT! HEH HEH…"

Together, the pair shuffled to the door and slipped out. Kid, Liz and Patti were long gone; the corridor was empty. Celeste was glad; she had to admit that someone seeing this without knowing what was going on would likely be very freaked out. They managed to get to the stairs without any major incident, but Celeste and Aia nearly lost their courage right there. "Stairs…" Celeste moaned. It was a short flight to the main level of the Academy, but then there was another, taller flight to get to the nurse's office.

Celeste took a deep breath and crab-walked onto the first step. Aia did the same. Both girls fell to their knees simultaneously.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" Celeste wailed.

"AND WE THOUGHT WE WERE SO POWERFUL!" Aia sobbed.

"Did I hear the unmistakable sound of two females in distress?" Celeste looked up to see Garo winking down at her.

"Garo…" She said, through gritted teeth. "Remember what I said about not being into you? That hasn't changed." Garo looked disappointed.

"I thought it might," he said, sitting down next to them. "Where've you guys been? Do you know how boring things can get when your only company is Fey?"

"We were on a mission for Lord Death, remember?" Aia said. "Lord Death told us about it right in front of you."

"I forgot," Garo said, unabashed. Aia sighed.

"Anyway, we went to Amaya's house. Her mother's been kidnapped, and when she found out the news she fainted. We're taking her to the nurse's office right now."

"About that…" Garo said, laughing uncomfortably. "Nygus kind of has her hands full right now."

Aia narrowed her eyes. "What did you do, Garo?"

"Nothing!" Garo said immediately. "Well… mostly nothing."

"Spit it out, Garo," Celeste said, gently laying Amaya on the step and glaring up at her friend with a dangerous expression.

"Alright!" He said. "Jeez, you two, there's no need to be so pushy. I told Fey I didn't think she'd be able to do a perfect jump off one of the Academy spires. You can guess what happened after that."

"Oh my god!" Aia gasped. "Is she okay?"

"Pretty much," Garo said. "Her jump was excellent, but when she landed she sort of wobbled. I pointed it out and she started chasing me for insulting her. And then we accidentally ran into the middle of the school mascots practicing."

"What school mascots?" Celeste asked.

"You've never met them? I don't know all of them, but it's like a cheerleading squad led by this great girl named Blair. I'll introduce you some time. Anyway, I managed to get through them with only a couple of minor scrapes, but right when Fey was in the middle of them they started the high kicks." He shuddered. "It's a miracle she got out alive."

Celeste winced appreciatively. "Ouch," she said. "Did she break anything?"

"No, but she got stabbed in about a million places with stilettos. Nygus says she's not going to scar, but she's still probably going to try and kill the mascots as soon as she gets out of bed."

"Oh, Fey," Aia sighed. "We'd better get her to change her mind."

"We'd better," Garo agreed. He looked down at Amaya. "Anyway, we should take her to Dr. Stein instead. If I show up with another injured person today, Nygus will eat my soul." He bent down and scooped Amaya up easily, tossing her over his shoulder. Aia and Celeste stared.

"How…" Celeste whispered, eye twitching.

"This is not fair…" Aia moaned, lips trembling. Garo shrugged, and Amaya's prone limbs flopped a little.

"I can't help being so awesome," he started, but Aia and Celeste finished the conversation for him by marching past him.

"Come on, Mr. Awesome," Celeste called back, and heard him walking up the stairs behind her. _He probably thought I was being serious, _she thought, and grinned. _I really have the weirdest friends._

* * *

><p>Celeste knocked on the door to Dr. Stein's office and waited.<p>

She didn't know him very well, as he wasn't her teacher. Secretly, she thought he was very creepy-looking, with the weird giant cog in his head and the crazy eyes. Amaya wasn't half as weird looking, although her eyes were very similar to his.

Celeste swallowed. _Maybe I should tell Dr. Stein about Amaya being his daughter now, _she thought. _I mean; we know it's true, so there's no reason I shouldn't do it. _Her hand hovered at the door for a moment and settled softly on the wood. _What's taking him so long?_

"… Come on, Spirit."

Celeste blinked. Apparently, Stein was having a conversation with Death Scythe in there. "He's talking to Spirit," she whispered to Garo and Aia. "I don't think he heard me."

"Why are you whispering?" Garo whispered.

"I don't know," Celeste whispered back. "It seemed appropriate." She grinned evilly. "I'm going to eavesdrop."

"You shouldn't do that!" Aia whispered. "Stein will kill you if he finds out!"

"He won't," Celeste whispered confidently, turning to Garo. "You in?"

"Of course," he responded. Together, they pressed their ears to the wood and closed their eyes.

It sounded as though Spirit were laughing nervously. "Why would I be keeping anything from you?" He asked, sounding uncomfortable. "Typical Stein, always jumping to conclusions."

"We both know I'm not jumping to conclusions, Spirit. There's something about Amaya that you're not telling me. _What is it?_"

"Fine, alright? There is something I'm not telling you, but the Reaper ordered me to keep my mouth shut and I'm not about to defy him."

"Very well, Spirit," Stein said quietly. Celeste heard a metallic clink, and then a gasp from Spirit. "I'll simply have to dissect your head and find out the answer for myself."

"AMAYA'S YOUR DAUGHTER!" Spirit choked. Celeste heard something clatter to the floor, and assumed that Stein had dropped whatever he'd been holding.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"You heard me," Spirit said, sounding irritable. "We don't know for sure, but we're fairly positive."

There was heavy breathing from the other side of the door. "That can't be," Stein said simply. "It's not possible."

"Look at her! She looks just like you, and she acts like you too. Seriously, you two are the only ones on the planet obsessed with dissection. Also, I feel like now's a good time to add that Suki never hated you. That was just a lie I made up so you wouldn't ask Amaya who her father was."

"Oh god," Stein groaned. "What am I going to tell Marie? She's coming home from Oceania any day now. She's not going to be happy."

"I'm sure Marie won't judge. She's not the problem right now, anyway. What are you going to do with Amaya?" There was a silence from Stein.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Something like this has never happened to me before. What would you do, Spirit?"

"I'd invite her to live with me," Spirit said. "And I'd spend a lot of time with her, so she knew I cared."

"Maybe I shouldn't be taking advice from you," Stein said. "Look how the relationship with your daughter turned out!"

"MAKA LOVES ME!" Spirit roared. "WE MADE UP, YOU INSENSITIVE MONSTER!"

"Sorry," Stein said, sounding more amused than sorry. He sighed heavily. "Alright," he said. "I suppose I could spend some quality time with her." He groaned again. "I barely know the girl!" He said. "If Suki had only told me… I could have helped somehow; I could have…"

"It's not your fault, Stein," Spirit said seriously. "And I'm sure Amaya doesn't think so either. But you have to start making a relationship with her now, before it's too late."

"I don't know a thing about father-daughter relationships," Stein said. "I suppose if I think of it as an experiment…"

"No," Spirit said. "Do _not _think of it as an experiment. Although I bet Amaya could prevent herself from being dissected by you, if it comes down to that."

"Probably," Stein said, sounding thoughtful. "That's another thing I could teach her how to do- fight."

"What a great way to bond!" Spirit said sarcastically. "But that's probably the only way either of you two _could_ bond…"

Celeste jumped as she felt Aia frantically tapping her back. She snatched Garo by the neck and straightened him up just as Sid walked down the corridor. He peered at them suspiciously. "When I was alive, I was a careful man," he said. "It seems to me that you three were eavesdropping."

"No we weren't!" Aia gasped, smiling pathetically.

Celeste grinned at Sid; he wasn't her teacher but practically every kid in the DWMA knew him. "We were just leaning against the wood. We were tired for lugging Amaya up all those stairs."

"Sure," Sid said, still sounding suspicious. "I'll be watching you, Attenborough," he said, but he was smiling in spite of himself as he walked away.

"I don't know how you manage that," Aia said enviously.

All three of them jumped as the door to Stein's office opened. They smiled weakly as he stared at them with bloodshot eyes. "Can I help you…?" He started testily, and trailed off when he noticed Amaya. His face went very white.

"All three of them know your little secret, Stein," Spirit said, coming up behind his former meister. "They were the ones who brought Amaya here in the first place. Fey Chaius knows too."

Stein sighed and rubbed his head. "What happened?" He asked.

"Amaya fainted," Celeste said helpfully.

"She found out that her mother was kidnapped," Aia added.

"Yeah…" Said Garo, apparently not wanting to be left out.

Stein leaned heavily against the door. "Alright," he said. "Come inside- I'll do my best to wake her up."

All three of them trooped into the office. Like Nygus', it had a couple of beds against one of the walls. Garo laid Amaya in one of these, while Celeste and Aia took a seat on the second bed. Garo joined them, and they watched as Stein rummaged in the cupboards. He pulled out a small object and met their questioning gazes. "Smelling salts," he explained; crossing over to Amaya's bed. He bent over her and put the salts under her nose. She breathed in easily, and suddenly snorted in a deep breath of air. Her eyelids fluttered, and she opened them completely to find Dr. Stein looming over her.

"Dr. Frien?" She asked; voice husky.

Stein swallowed nervously and took a deep breath. "No," he said. "That's not my name." Her eyes widened, and her face turned whiter than the last time she'd fainted. He gave her a tiny half smile. "My name is…"

"Franken Stein," she finished, and fainted again.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope Chapter Four was as awesome as Black Star. Is that possible? Probably not...<strong>

**Many thank-you's to TheManintheHat for reviewing!**

**And sorry for the sort-of-cliffhanger; I couldn't resist!**

**See you later, alligator!**

**Blair: In a while, pum-pumkin!**

**Me: Sigh**


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